Chicago — At some point during the Futures Game on July 16, we might get a glimpse of a future Tigers battery.
Right-handed pitcher Wilmer Flores and catcher Dillon Dingler, both thriving at Double-A Erie, were named to the American League team on Thursday.
“It’s two guys with wildly different paths to this game,” said Ryan Garko, Tigers’ vice president of player development. “Dillon from a Power Five school (Ohio State), a high pick and a name I think most people know who follow the Tigers.
“Wilmer is kind of the opposite. A late-round pick (28th round) from a small school out west (Arizona Western) kind of following in the path of Beau Brieske and Garrett Hill — we are developing some of these young pitchers who were picked later. It’s something our scouting department should be really proud of.”
Brieske was taken in the 27th round and Hill in the 26th. Both have made their big-league debuts this season.
“Our scouting department and player development department, we work hand in hand,” Garko said. “And any time we get to celebrate any of our players, especially an achievement like this, it’s always exciting.”
The last five Tigers prospects to play in the Futures Game are all in the big leagues — Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Matt Manning (injured), Jake Rogers (injured) and Isaac Paredes (traded to Tampa).
“It’s a great honor to represent the Tigers at this event,” said Dingler, who has thrown out 34% of base stealers and, after a rough month of June, is 10-for-31 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and 13 RBIs in his last eight games. “I’m just looking forward to getting there and enjoying the moment and seeing all the talent that is there.”
Flores, whose brother (also named Wilmer) is a 10-year major league veteran playing for the Giants, has dominated hitters both at High-A West Michigan and at Erie, striking out 85 and walking only 10 in 58⅔ innings.
“I was waiting for this,” Flores said. “Seriously. I was waiting for it. After my first month in West Michigan, I was waiting. I knew I was doing really well. It’s something that’s good for me and good for my career.”
Dingler, the No. 3 prospect in the Tigers system per MLB Pipeline, has caught Flores’ last two starts — no earned runs, 10 strikeouts and one walk in 8⅔ innings.
“He’s electric, man,” Dingler said. “It just looks kind of easy for him.”
Flores, ranked No. 14 in the Tigers’ system, pitched only 11 innings in college before the Tigers drafted him. That’s how impressive his raw stuff is.
“There is pitch characteristics to really get excited about,” Garko said. “There is deception in his delivery. He strikes people out. He doesn’t walk people or give up dingers. All the things we value as an organization and that baseball as an industry values right now, he’s doing.”
Garko, who saw him for the first time at the Arizona Fall League last November, praised Flores’ work ethic and hunger.
“There is a little bit of a chip on his shoulder,” Garko said. “He wants to be a big-leaguer. He’s in that good spot of being the underdog, just go out and prove people wrong. He’s going to be that 28th-rounder that goes to the Futures Game, gets to Triple-A and gets a chance to get to the big leagues.”
Garko expects both Dingler and Flores to make their way to Triple-A Toledo by the end of the year, even if it’s just to get a small taste of the next level.
Seeing so many of their former teammates get promoted to the big leagues this season — Greene, Torkelson, Brieske, Hill, Kody Clemens — is whetting the appetite of both.
“I love seeing each and every one of those guys get their opportunities,” Dingler said. “They’ve been grinding and putting in the time and elevating their game to where they can play at the next level. I am so happy for each and every one of them.
“It’s making me a little hungrier to do the same thing. I look forward to playing with them at some point.”
cmccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky