Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler showed why he is one of MLB's top catchers, in more ways than one. The 26-year-old is mature beyond his years.
MINNEAPOLIS — If Charlie Morton doesn't have his curveball, he isn't going to be successful.
The 41-year-old — a right-hander making his third start for the Detroit Tigers — struggled to channel his best curveball in the early innings Friday, Aug. 15, against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, but he still found a way to complete six scoreless innings.
Morton credited catcher Dillon Dingler.
"Ding hung with me," Morton said after Friday's 7-0 win. "I told him he was a good pal back there because he stuck with me early. Breaking ball was good, but I couldn't find it for strikes, but when it was there, it was good."
It's a reminder that Dingler is one of the best catchers in the big leagues.
The 26-year-old is mature beyond his years.
"I think he's demonstrated great feel and great understanding of maximizing guys' strengths," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Saturday, Aug. 16, before another game against the Twins and less than 24 hours after Friday's win. "I don't even think of Dillon as a young catcher anymore. I just think of him as a really good major league catcher who can still get better."
In Friday's start, Morton threw 34 curveballs, including seven curveballs apiece in the first and second innings.
Morton missed for balls with his first five curves in the first inning, leading to back-to-back walks. He responded with two swing-and-miss curveballs for an inning-ending strikeout, stranding the runners. In the second, Morton missed with three of his first four curves to set up a full-count with a runner on third base. But a perfect down-and-in curveball generated a swinging strikeout.
Some of those were Morton's pitch calls.
"That was him," Dingler said.
Suddenly, Morton threw just two curveballs in the third. He then used eight in the fourth, three in the fifth and seven curveballs in the sixth.
"We were talking through the first three," Dingler said after Friday's win. "We weren't really on the same page. He was trying to find the feel for the curveball and all that stuff, but we were able to mix in the other pitches. And then he finally felt a little bit more comfortable with the curveball."
Morton wanted to find his curveball.
But Dingler needed to get outs.
They teamed up to do both at the same time.
"It opens up a lot of different things," Dingler said. "You got to find your avenue to get back into it. Even though he said he didn't have good feel for the curveball, it was still completely disgusting."
While Morton searched for his best curveball, Dingler called for sinkers at the bottom of the zone, changeups and sliders against right-handed hitters and four-seam fastballs at the top of the zone, changeups and sliders to left-handed hitters.
That's how Morton weathered the early innings.
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"I need my breaking ball, so it's whatever we got to do to get it going," Morton said. "My glove-side breaking ball, even if I yank a couple, it's not the end of the world. Tonight, especially early, it was tough to get it going for strikes."
Morton credited Dingler, but Morton deserves credit for following Dingler's plan.
"I also think it speaks to Charlie Morton being a trusting soul," Hinch said. "He's going to follow the catcher, who needs to be his eyes and ears and sometimes his thought-partner in how to use his stuff. It's great when a veteran like Charlie bestows that trust on him, but he's earned it."
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By the end of six innings, Morton generated seven whiffs on 12 curveballs for an elite 58.3% whiff rate — though he landed just three curveballs for called strikes.
In 2025, his curveball has produced a 36.4% whiff rate.
"It is one of the best pitches in baseball," Dingler said, "so you got to make sure that you're sticking with it and not losing sight of it. He did a great job."
Morton, an 18-year MLB veteran, has made three starts with the Tigers since joining them from the Baltimore Orioles at the July 31 trade deadline, posting a 3.86 ERA with five walks and 21 strikeouts across 16⅓ innings.
He had Dingler as his catcher in the first and third starts and Jake Rogers in the second start.
Morton enjoys working with both.
"I've been really fortunate for a long time now to be on teams with several really good catchers," Morton said. "Really good defense-focused catcher that are selfless and have a really good feel, not just for the game, but for the people that they're working with. It's the same exact thing here. I feel really, really fortunate to have these two guys here."
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers C Dillon Dingler shows 'great feel' with Charlie Morton
Category: Baseball
