Diligent With Game Prep, Dillon Dingler Does His Homework Daily

Dillon Dingler is developing into one of baseball’s better catchers. Playing in his first full big league season, the 27-year-old Detroit Tigers backstop banged out 13 home runs while slashing .278/.327/.425 with a 109 wRC+ over 469 plate appearances. Moreover, he was worth six DRS and posted well-above-average framing numbers. His 4.1 WAR ranked third best among junior circuit catchers.

Dingler’s defensive chops extend to his game-calling, which is done in collaboration with Detroit’s pitching group. Preparation is a team strength — last year’s pitching chaos didn’t succeed by accident — and not just because pitching coach Chris Fetter is widely regarded as an adept game-planner. The entire coaching staff is thorough, and so too is the former Ohio State Buckeye, who squatted behind the dish in 115 games this season. (Dingler also filled in at the DH position from time to time.)

The pregame pitcher meetings that precede every game was on my mind when I sat down with Dingler on the final day of the regular season. I was primarily interested in learning how the Tigers go about them, including just what role the catchers play in the dissemination of information. What I found out is that the Tigers — ditto Dingler himself — differ somewhat from most other teams. Not having both catchers in the room, which is the common practice, is an example.

“We do it as the starting catcher, the pitcher, our catching coach, Ryan Sanko, Chris Fetter, and [assistant pitching coach] Robin Lund,” explained Dingler. “That’s pretty much it. It’s usually a smaller group.”

And then there is the preparation he does before the meeting even starts.

“I like to do my homework beforehand,” Dingler told me. “I’ll go on True Media — I found a system that I like — and take notes on the opposing lineup. I always write things down before the meeting, then think through them so that I can convert it to memory. Once we’re in there, Fet will go through their lineup. We basically go through each guy and determine the way that we’re going to pitch him.”

Fetter usually does “most of the talking,” but there is back-and-forth throughout. For instance, if the starter feels that something else could work — he may have a strong preference for a certain pitch — he will communicate that to the group and the idea will be discussed. Dingler also chimes in, with his level of familiarity often dictating how much he has to say. If it is game three or four of a series, or if the Tigers have already faced the team multiple times on the season, he can “speak from memory” on what he’s observed behind the plate. And then there are his notes, which “are always in front of me.”

The homework he does before the pitcher meeting remains fresh in his mind once the tools of ignorance have been strapped on, as does the information that was communicated to the parties at hand by Fetter. But even though diligent number-crunching and game-planning play a big role in how the Tigers go about attacking hitters, pitch-calling is far from a paint-by-numbers exercise. Dingler recognizes that.

“We’ll do a quick little summary of the hitters right before we go out there, but that’s more so to make sure that we stick to our strengths and don’t try to get too cute,” Dingler said. “You probably don’t want your pitcher to be throwing his fourth-best pitch in many situations. Once the game starts, you’re also seeing the swings, seeing what the hitter is trying to do. You’re seeing his takes. You’re seeing what your pitcher has good command of, what he has feel for. You piece it all together from there.”

But again, detailed game-planning is the Tigers’ way of going about it, and their studious catcher has the same kind of mindset. Not everyone who plays his position walks into a pregame meeting with a notepad of information that he gathered himself, but Dingler does. It’s a big part of how he prepares.

“It’s one of those things where it’s not one size fits all,” Dingler said of his practice. “You’ve got to figure out what works for you, just like you’ve got to figure out what works for the staff. I like writing things down, because I can convert it to memory. It makes me feel more comfortable when I’m back there. When I’m uncomfortable is when I don’t know what to go to, and I don’t like that feeling. I like to be as prepared as possible.”

Due diligence will be to the nth degree for Dingler and the Tigers today. When the group gets together for the pregame pitchers’ meeting, they will be comparing notes for a winner-take-all Wild Card Game 3 against the Guardians in Cleveland. The level of preparation will be high. It will come down to how well they execute the plan.