Well, the day was bound to come. Pinch-hit specialist Jahmai Jones has struggled mightily all season long, and while the Detroit Tigers were more patient than most liked, he just hasn’t been able to turn things around. Dillon Dingler’s hand contusion isn’t going to put him on the injured list, but it did precipitate a move to make sure the Tigers have the catching depth and another right-handed power bat on hand. As a result, catcher and first baseman Eduardo Valencia has been promoted from Triple-A
Toledo to make his major league debut.
Manager A.J Hinch told reporters on Thursday that his All-Star catcher was day-to-day, with hopes that he’d be able to play in the Philadelphia Phillies series at Comerica Park this weekend. Dingler was clipped by a foul tip that struck his hand between the base of his right thumb and forefinger on Wednesday against the Athletics. The area swelled up on him, but x-rays revealed that there was no underlying damage. That will coax a sigh of relief out of Tigers fans as Dingler is currently playing like one of the top handful of players in baseball. Hopefully he can get right and pick up where he left off.
As for Jones, well you can’t say the Tigers weren’t patient. For a veteran with a long track record, three months to try and get jump-started would be a fairly long leash but not unusual. For a limited player with one specific role and only a partial season’s worth of success in the major leagues in his late 20’s, the Tigers weren pretty generous here, but the issue has mainly been a lack of an obvious replacement. The club already promoted right-handed hitting outfielder Ben Malgeri to help carry some of the load in the outfield, and Dingler and Spencer Torkelson have been the designated destroyers of left-handed pitching instead over the past five weeks.
Maybe Jones will catch on somewhere else for a brief look, but probably the best move for him is to just accept a Triple-A assignment with the Tigers and give himself some time to try and get it going at the plate again.
The 26-year-old Valencia was added to the 40-man roster last fall to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. The right-handed hitter broke out in a big way last year, hitting 24 home runs between the Double-A Erie SeaWolves and the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens in 2025. He started slowly this season, but heated up into May and June. He now holds a 122 wRC+ with 16 home runs, a 10 percent walk rate, and a solid 20.8 percent strikeout rate.
Part of the slow playing of Valencia was doubtless about his defensive role. The Tigers continue to work hard with him on his defensive progression, while mixing him in a first base more and more to open up another possibility for him positionally. Valencia is capable behind the plate, but just doesn’t have the advanced framing, blocking, and throwing the Tigers demand from their catchers at the major league level. Learning first base has been a challenge for him too, and right now he’s mostly, like Jones, a bat without a home. However, he’s a much better bet than Jones to actually do some damage and give the Tigers more consistent at-bats. At the same time he’ll get to work with the major league staff on his defense.
With Jones DFA’d, however, it does mean that there’s at least a temporary role available for Valencia here if he’s productive at the plate. Congratulations to him on his major league debut.
