Eduardo

Valencia

It was the perfect ending to a storybook afternoon in Detroit that featured a vintage performance from Justin Verlander in the final start of his legendary career. Valencia played the role of unexpected hero when he connected for a walk-off homer against Pirates closer Mason Montgomery with two outs in the ninth inning. It was his seventh career home run. He simply hasn’t stopped hitting since arriving in the majors and is now batting .344 through his first 41 games.

Valencia led off the second inning with a walk and scored the Tigers’ first run on a two-out, two-run triple off the bat of Spencer Torkelson. He then singled and scored on a two-run single by Dillon Dingler in the third inning. Valencia also started a rally with a two-out walk in the sixth and scored on a fielder’s choice. He has impressed in his limited action with the Tigers, slashing .350/.391/.617 with six homers and 18 RBI in his first 129 plate appearances at the game’s highest level.

Dingler has shouldered a heavy load for the Tigers this season and his offensive production has suffered down the stretch because of it, so giving him a few days off down the stretch seems prudent. Eduardo Valencia will start in his place behind the dish and will bat eighth against White Sox’ right-hander David Sandlin on Friday evening in Chicago.

Valencia gets a look behind the plate for Saturday afternoon’s matinee in the Motor City with Dillon Dingler getting a break from the field at DH. The 26-year-old rookie backstop has cooled off in recent weeks, but he’s still hitting .333 (24-for-72) with six homers and 17 RBI in 25 games since early July.

Dingler has been really struggling at the dish lately, slashing a woeful .071/.148/.107 with zero homers, four RBI and a 14/4 K/BB ratio over 61 plate appearances in his last 14 games, so giving him a day off to clear his head makes plenty of sense. Eduardo Valencia will do the catching for the Tigers and bat cleanup against Daniel Lynch IV and the Royals on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City.

Valencia has been a sneaky impactful fantasy contributor this season, hitting .389 (21-for-54) with six homers and 17 RBI in 19 games. He’s not going to deliver a ton of volume with All-Star backstop Dillon Dingler firmly entrenched as Detroit’s starting catcher, but he’s worthy of a roster spot in most fantasy leagues, especially two-catcher formats.

Valencia put the Tigers on the board with a single in the first inning to drive in a run. He then led off the fourth inning with a solo homer off Anthony Kay. The home run was his sixth of the season while hitting .404/.426/.865 across just 54 plate appearances, though he’s been mostly limited to a short-side platoon.

Valencia is hitting .381/.381/.952 versus left-handers and .391/.440/.739 against right-handers this year. We dunno what he has to do to get more work — we understand the Tigers can’t exactly bench Dillon Dingler, but there is a DH spot. This was Valencia’s first action since August 9 and he’s appeared in just seven games this month despite the hot bat.

Valencia was right in the middle of the action as the Tigers plated four runs in the fourth inning and four runs in the eighth. The 26-year-old has done nothing but hit when called upon this season, as he now owns a ridiculous .452/.469/.935 batting line through 32 plate appearances. He deserves more opportunities down the stretch for Detroit.

Oh, so that’s why Detroit DFA’d Jake Rogers. The Tigers started both of their catchers tonight, with Dillon Dingler serving as a DH, and Valencia, who was recalled Monday, hit his third and fourth homers in just seven games (four starts) as a major leaguer. True, the second one tonight was hit off Chadwick Tromp, but this still an awfully impressive start. He’s the first player to have four hits and two homers in one of his first seven career games since Jose Siri in 2021 and second since Danny Espinosa in 2010.