He’s done it. On Sunday evening, Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler was named the recipient of Rawlings AL Gold Glove Award as the best defensive catcher in the league for the second straight season. He joins Pudge Rodriguez, Lance Parrish, and Bill Freehan as the only Tigers catchers to ever win back-to-back Gold Glove awards at catcher.
Dingler finished the year with +17 in Fielding Run Value, +15 Defensive Runs Saved, and a +9 in Framing Runs. He had +11 Blocks Above Average, and caught +5 runners
trying to steal. He also held a 136 wRC+ through July 31 and was a clear contender for AL MVP until his offensive production collapsed over the final two months of the season. He still finished with 27 home runs, a 107 wRC+ and was worth 5 fWAR, finishing 8th most valuable among American League position players.
Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez won his Gold Glove Awards for the Tigers in 2006-2007. Lance Parrish, one of the leaders of the 1984 World Series champions won the award three straight times from 1983-1985, while Bill Freehan won five straight awards from 1965-1969, and as we’ve argued many times here at Bless You Boys, should be in the Hall of Fame.
Utilityman Zach McKinstry was a finalist for the AL Gold Glove among utility players this year. Ezequiel Duran of the Texas Rangers beat him out for that award.
In the minor league phase, Tigers Triple-A infield prospect Max Anderson won a Minor League Gold Glove award at second base. While we don’t have metrics on defensive in the minor leagues the way we do in the majors, Anderson’s oft-maligned defense certainly improved this year through a lot of hard work. He’s still a below average second baseman by major league standards in my opinion, but the trajectory of improvement does make a better case for Anderson getting a regular shot at the position next year, with Gleyber Torres off to free agency and probably unlikely to return after an injury plagued season.
Congrats to both Tigers Gold Glove winners.
