The Detroit Tigers are having a rough season. A 29-40 record heading into Friday isn’t going to make anyone forget the 1984 championship team. But buried inside that losing record is one of the most surprising breakout stories in the American League this year.
Dillon Dingler has emerged as a legitimate All-Star candidate. And according to MLB Network analyst Jon Morosi, he should be more than just a reserve — he should be the starter behind the plate for the AL in the 2026 Midsummer Classic.
“Dillon Dingler should start in the All-Star Game,” Morosi wrote this week. “He leads all MLB catchers in WAR, per Fangraphs, and has been the @Tigers MVP this year.”
That WAR metric is worth pausing on. Among all catchers across both leagues, Dingler sits at the top by that advanced measure. For a Tigers team that has been searching for identity and consistency behind the plate for years, Dingler’s arrival feels like a genuine breakthrough.
Through his first 62 games, the 27-year-old is hitting .254 with 16 home runs and an American League-leading 49 RBIs. Those 16 dingers rank third among all catchers, just one behind Oakland’s Shea Langeliers. The RBI total, however, is the eye-popper — no other catcher in the AL has driven in more runs, and only a handful of position players across the league have been more productive in that category.
From Promise to Production
Dingler gave Tigers fans a taste of what was possible during the 2025 season. Over 126 games, he hit .278 with 13 home runs and 57 RBIs. Those aren’t numbers that typically land a player in All-Star conversations. But he’s nearly matched that RBI total in half the games this season, and he’s already cleared his 2025 home run total.
What changed? A more aggressive approach at the plate seems to be part of it. Dingler is swinging earlier in counts and driving the ball with more authority to all fields. Defensively, he’s thrown out base runners at a solid clip and has earned strong framing numbers from the analytics community.
The Tigers have him under team control through 2031, which means this isn’t a flash-in-the-pan scenario. At 27, Dingler is entering his prime years, and Detroit appears to have found its long-term answer at catcher.
The Competition
If Dingler wants that starting nod, he’ll have to beat out Langeliers, who is having a strong season of his own. Over 62 games, Langeliers is hitting .283 with 17 home runs and 35 RBIs. The power numbers are similar, but Dingler holds a clear edge in run production.
Both players are almost certainly bound for the All-Star Game as reserves at minimum. But the starting job will come down to how fans and players vote over the next few weeks. If Morosi’s opinion is any indication, Dingler has a compelling case — and Tigers fans who have watched this team struggle all year are likely to agree.
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