Detroit, MI

Detroit Tigers promote catcher Dillon Dingler for MLB debut after Carson Kelly trade

Published

2 years ago

July 29, 2024

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Detroit Tigers promote catcher Dillon Dingler for MLB debut after Carson Kelly trade

There’s a new catcher in town.

The Detroit Tigers are calling up catcher Dillon Dingler from Triple-A Toledo for his MLB debut, according to multiple sources not authorized to discuss roster moves publicly.

Dingler, already a member of the 40-man roster, will be activated for Monday’s series opener against the Cleveland Guardians at Comerica Park. Trading catcher Carson Kelly, an impending free agent, to the Texas Rangers for a pair of minor leaguers opened the door for Dingler’s promotion to the Tigers.

The catching tandem is now Dingler and Jake Rogers.

THE OFFSEASON: Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler’s glove is MLB-ready. His bat, however, needs work

Dingler, the No. 38 overall pick in the 2020 draft out of Ohio State, is the third Tigers pick from his draft class to be called up, following first-rounder Spencer Torkelson and fifth-rounder Colt Keith.

Dingler, who turns 26 in mid-September, hit .308 with 17 home runs, 30 walks and 61 strikeouts across 71 games this season with Triple-A Toledo, posting a .938 OPS.

Dingler was on a heater for the Mud Hens in his last 22 games before the Tigers called him to Detroit, hitting .368 with nine homers and a 1.181 OPS. That included a .396 run with seven homers and a 1.360 OPS in his final 13 games.

THE TRADE: Tigers trade C Carson Kelly to Rangers, opening spot for Dillon Dingler

The breakthrough on offense stands out, but Dingler is considered a defense-first catcher because of his game-calling expertise. For years, pitchers have raved about their trust in throwing to Dingler, including top pitching prospect Jackson Jobe. He also features one of the best arms among all catchers in the minor leagues, which helps him control the running game.

Dingler has developed as a hitter in 2024.

He is making better swing decisions and making more contact while continuing to hit the ball hard.

Here are the Triple-A numbers: Dingler hit .261 (with a .237 expected batting average) and a 29.8% whiff rate in 26 games in 2023, but in 2024, he hit .308 (with a .301 expected batting average) and a 25.3% whiff rate in 71 games. His whiff rate against sliders improved from 47.1% in 2023 to 28.3% in 2024.

[ MUST LISTEN: Make “Days of Roar” your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

Dingler, though, could be tested by high-velocity fastballs. He hit just .154 without any power against fastballs at the Triple-A level that registered at least 95 mph on the radar gun.

The bat is bound to go through ups and downs in the big leagues, but the Tigers expect Dingler to be solid behind the plate regardless of what happens with his bat.

Anthony Bemboom, a 34-year-old journeyman, will remain in Triple-A Toledo, providing depth at the catcher position in case of an injury to Rogers or Dingler in the final two months. Bemboom has played 82 MLB games in parts of five seasons.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

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Detroit, MI

Detroit shines red for ALS kickoff & lighting ceremony

Published

12 hours ago

May 10, 2026

Press Room

Detroit shines red for ALS kickoff & lighting ceremony

DETROIT, MICH (WXYZ) — In partnership with The ALS Association, downtown Detroit parks will shine red May 10–16 in recognition of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) Awareness month.

A special kickoff event will take place from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 10, in Campus Martius Park. The event will allow families impacted by ALS to connect, learn about upcoming initiatives, and take part in a meaningful “END ALS” photo moment under the illuminated park lights.

You can reserve you spot by visiting:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=JlhGrOr9-kWQmmR_rZc61S9MfqDjPeBKvKV5YBqkMypUQThNMEs5TVpLRUY5R1FLV0o1WFExN1U4Uy4u

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Detroit, MI

Detroit Tigers lose fifth straight, Kerry Carpenter injured

Published

1 day ago

May 9, 2026

Press Room

Detroit Tigers lose fifth straight, Kerry Carpenter injured

Kansas City, Mo. — The losing streak is now five games. The road record is now an MLB-worst 6-16.

The Kansas City Royals prolonged the Tigers’ misery Saturday night with a relatively breezy 5-1 win at Kauffman Stadium.

Oh, and the Tigers might’ve lost another player in the process.

Right fielder Kerry Carpenter left the game in the third inning. He banged his left shoulder running into the side wall chasing Bobby Witt Jr.’s first-inning, two-run, inside-the-park home run.

Witt, a right-handed hitter, sliced a drive inside the bag at first. Carpenter chased it toward the side wall, but the ball caromed past him. Witt never stopped running.

Carpenter stayed in the game and even rolled an infield single in the second inning. But he was replaced by Wenceel Perez when the Royals came to bat in the third inning.

BOX SCORE: Royals 5, Tigers 1

He was being evaluated during the game.

The two-run homer by Witt ended up being more than the Tigers’ sputtering offense could overcome. But, for good measure, Michael Massey added a three-run home run off Ty Madden in the fourth inning.

Madden ended up being one of the few bright spots in the game for the Tigers. He pitched six innings and allowed just one other hit. He set down the last 11 hitters he faced.

He entered in the third inning after opener Burch Smith and lefty Tyler Holton worked one time through the Royals’ batting order.

Holton made a nifty escape in the first inning. With runners at second and third and one out, and two runs already in, Jac Caglianone hit a hard ground ball to second baseman Zach McKinstry, who was playing in on the grass.

McKinstry got the out at first. The runner at second, Carter Jensen, mistakenly broke for third where Vinnie Pasquantino was holding.

Spencer Torkelson threw to shortstop Kevin McGonigle who threw to catcher Jake Rogers once Pasquantino broke for home — your basic 4-3-6-2 double-play.

Not much else went the Tigers’ way.

Royals right-hander Michael Wacha snuffed out the few scoring opportunities the Tigers mustered.

He worked around an error and a McKinstry stolen base in the third innings. He got Jake Rogers to pop to shallow right field with runners at first and third and one out and then got Matt Vierling to ground out with the bases loaded in the fifth.

Wacha allowed two hits in seven innings. The Tigers put 18 balls in play against him with a soft average exit velocity of 84.4 mph.

The Tigers broke through in the eighth against lefty reliever Matt Strahm. And it was left-handed hitters who did the dirty work. Riley Greene, who extended his career-high on-base streak to 20 games, doubled home McGonigle.

This season is a long way from over but Tigers, 18-22, are in serious need a course correction.

Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com

@cmccosky

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Detroit, MI

Patchy dense fog turns to stronger thunderstorms for Metro Detroit to start the weekend

Published

2 days ago

May 9, 2026

Press Room

Patchy dense fog turns to stronger thunderstorms for Metro Detroit to start the weekend

4Warn Weather – SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy skies. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. A few storms could be strong with gusty winds and hail. High: 71.

SATURDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy skies, becoming partly cloudy skies late. Low: 45.

SUNDAY (MOTHER’S DAY): Mix of sunshine and clouds, cooler temperatures. High: 61.

SUNDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies. Another chilly night. Low: 41.

MONDAY: Mostly sunny skies, remaining chilly. High: 58.

After a beautiful end to the week on Friday with sunshine and a little cloud cover, with warmer temperatures moving into the region as well, some of us are waking up to some patchy dense fog on Saturday morning. Some places south of M-59 are seeing reduced visibilities down to around a mile. If you do run into some patchy dense fog, be sure to use your low beams.

That warming trend continues into the start of the weekend on Saturday, but it also brings a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Another cold front will work through the region by Saturday afternoon and early Saturday evening and that will bring our thunderstorm chance. High temperature is warming into low 70s by Saturday afternoon.

The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of the region under a Marginal Risk (1 out of 5) on our severe weather scale for the start of the weekend. Gusty winds and hail are the primary threats as we work through the start of the weekend, but this will not be a widespread threat for severe thunderstorms.

Behind that cold front for the end of the weekend on Sunday, we will keep a mixture of sunshine and clouds into the forecast. High temperatures running about 10 to 15° cooler to end the weekend. Expect high to warm into the upper 50s to lower 60s by Sunday afternoon.

Drier weather sticks around for the start of next week, before another chance of rain moves into the region by the time we get to Tuesday. The cooler-than-average temperatures will continue into the start of next week as well. Expect high temperatures to remain in the 50s for Monday and Tuesday.

Temperature start to warm up by the middle of next week, and Drier weather moves back in by Wednesday behind another cold front moving into the region. Expect high temperatures into the lower 60s on Wednesday to warm into the upper 60s by the time we get to Thursday. Above average temperatures move back into the region as we look ahead into the end of the week, expect high temperatures back into the lower 70s by the time we get to Friday.

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