The Detroit Tigers got some good news to begin their offseason as All-Star catcher Dillon Dingler brought home his second consecutive Gold Glove Award behind the plate. Dingler's 2026 offensive breakout, paired with defending his position as the best catcher in the American League, makes the future look bright for the former second-round draft pick.

After winning the award over Austin Wells of the New York Yankees and Brandon Valenzuela of the Toronto Blue Jays, Dingler touched on what this Gold Glove win means for his mental and physical process going into next season to defend his award again.

Dingler's Approach Behind the Plate

"The biggest thing for me, I talked about this with (Ryan) Sienko, our catching coach, it's all about in-season adjustments," Dingler said via Detroit SportsNet on X (formerly Twitter).

"It's all about how you can get better during the season, whether that be you're not getting strike calls and you've got to figure it out, or you're not throwing as well as you should be. It's pretty much figuring it out on the fly and making sure you're keeping yourself accountable."

Dingler has become a captain on this Detroit team, both at his position and within the clubhouse. In typical Dillon Dingler fashion, his job just comes easily to him, so long as he continues to adjust to what's working and what isn't. His defensive metrics prove it.

When looking at Dingler's Baseball Savant fielding percentiles, they are painted in red, with the following rankings in specific categories for catchers at their positions.

Blocks Above Average : 11 (95th percentile)
Caught Stealing Above Average : 5 (93rd percentile)
Framing : 9 (100th percentile)
Pop-Time : 1.86 seconds (95th percentile)

With a new backup catcher in Eduardo Valencia, who is better known as a hitting catcher rather than a defensive catcher, perhaps Dingler can teach the rookie a thing or two to better himself behind the plate when Dingler gets the day off or is penciled as the designated hitter.

"We're going to get better and we're going to come out with a little bit more intent next year, I believe," Dingler said.

There's a belief that this roster can get the job done; they just need everyone to take a step to that next level, one that gets them back into the postseason and hopefully beyond the ALDS round, which has been their exit in the two most recent playoff runs.