Dillon Dingler homers on Father’s Day

The good news is that the All-Star backstop is not dealing with any fractures after being struck on the hand by a foul tip during Wednesday’s game. The Tigers did add an extra catcher to the roster on Thursday to help add depth behind the plate, but Dingler wasn’t placed on the injured list which is very encouraging. He’s considered day-to-day.

Dingler will undergo additional imaging out of an abundance of caution to rule out any structural issues, but it seems like he managed to avoid a worst-case scenario after taking a foul tip off his right hand during Wednesday’s contest against the Athletics. The 27-year-old All-Star backstop is day-to-day for now. There should be additional updates on his status leading into Thursday’s series finale.

Dingler is likely headed for X-rays to rule out any potential fractures after taking a foul tip off his right hand behind the plate during the early stages of Wednesday’s game at Comerica Park. He finished 1-for-1 with a run scored prior to leaving the contest in the second inning. Clearly, the Tigers weren’t going to take any chances by letting him continue. There should be a definitive update on his status following the contest. The 27-year-old was named to the American League’s roster for next week’s Midsummer Classic, his first All-Star Game selection.

Dingler’s hot month of June continued Monday. He doubled and scored in the first inning, had a sacrifice fly in the second inning and scored another run in the fourth inning. Dingler is 33-for-100 (.330) with eight home runs, 25 RBI and 21 runs scored in 25 games in June. He’s hitting .262 with an .854 OPS and 59 RBI on the season.

No surprise here with a quick early-afternoon turnaround after Dingler handled the catching duties during Friday night’s series opener. The 27-year-old backstop somehow wasn’t a finalist for the American League in All-Star balloting, but he deserves to be there on the strength of a 19-homer breakthrough campaign. It’ll be Jake Rogers behind the plate on Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park.

Dingler finally got the Tigers on the board with his one-out solo shot off of Enyel De Los Santos in the ninth inning, pulling his club to within a run at 2-1. That would be as close as they would get. Dingler is having an outstanding season at the dish, slashing .268/.336/.543 with a team-leading 19 home runs and 57 RBI.

Dingler’s strong month at the plate continued with three hits against the Yankees on Tuesday. The 27-year-old catcher was hitting just .226 with 11 home runs at the end of May. So far in June, Dingler is 30-for-78 (.385) with seven home runs and 22 RBI. He’s easily been one of the best catchers in fantasy this year.

Dingler got the Tigers on the board in the fifth inning with an RBI single that plated Zach McKinstry. He then added an insurance run with a 430-foot (105.8-mph EV) solo shot off of Trevor Richards in the eighth inning. Dingler has been a monster at the plate this season, slashing .267/.337/.537 with 17 long balls and 53 RBI.

The three-hit attack raises Dingler’s season average to .254. Dingler remains top-nine in expected wOBA on the season at .403, and his expected batting average of .294 is still being roundly underperformed. He’s been a quiet success story at catcher this year -- good enough to DH on some of his days off, like today -- and remains an easy starter in fantasy leagues.

It’s still kind of hard to see Dingler ending the season in the running for AL MVP honors, but he’s very much on the short list through 57 games. All four of his balls in play tonight were hard hit, and he’s batting .248//329/. 528 with 16 homers and 48 RBI while also performing as one of the league’s top defensive catchers to date. He’s tied for 11th in the majors in homes and fifth in RBI.