DETROIT — One year ago, Jake Rogers caught every one of Tarik Skubal’s outings. Skubal won the Cy Young Award and a pitching Triple Crown. He gifted his personal catcher a Rolex as a thank you.

This year, Dillon Dingler has emerged as the Tigers’ primary catcher. The 26-year-old entered Friday hitting .269 with a .740 OPS. He grades out well in blocking, framing and throwing. As Dingler has pushed his way into the lineup and continues to assert himself as a real piece of the Tigers’ future, Skubal is working with both Dingler and Rogers this season.

For a young player, catching for a Cy Young Award winner who only worked with one catcher last season might seem like a daunting challenge. But like with most things, Dingler has handled the transition with ease. Skubal has a 2.15 ERA in his first 20 outings with Dingler behind the plate. Thursday in Minneapolis, Skubal lacked his best stuff or command but still held the Twins to three earned runs over seven innings.

“I think what it says about Dillon is how prepared he is,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Dillon doesn’t ever go in blind. He’s not someone who approaches any game plan with Tarik or anybody else without an idea of what he’s trying to do. He’s not afraid to audible off of his plan, but there’s a great presence. I wish I could bottle it up and give it to every catcher that we have in our system.”

Hinch’s praise continued.

“Presence matters,” he said. “Body language matters. The tone in which you receive information or you give information is super important. I think he’s earned that. You have to earn that as a young catcher.”

Tarik Skubal in 2025

CatcherGamesInningsERA

20

130

2.15

4

22.1

4.03

Skubal has known Rogers since they were friends at the alternate training site in 2020. But Skubal, too, has adapted well to working with Dingler in addition to Rogers this season.

“What it says about Tarik is that he’s an incredible teammate to help a young catcher believe in himself,” Hinch said. “It would have been really easy for Tarik to demand things or expect things coming off of that season last year. He’s been nothing but supportive, whether I put him with Ding or whether I put him with Rog or any combination.”

So what is it actually like catching the reigning Cy Young Award winner — a pitcher known for ferocity and emotion on the mound — in your first full big-league season?

Let’s hear more from Dingler.

Note: Conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

You’re pretty deep into catching Tarik now. But when you were first starting this spring, how did you go about building trust?

I feel like the trust was already there. It was more so just learning what he likes to do. Of course, that’s going to be more than a couple of outings. It’s built over a season. We’re in a good spot. We’ve figured out what works. Just picking it up as we go, almost. It’s one of those things where you have a game plan going into the game, and he’s so good at adjusting on the fly. We talk to (Chris Fetter) between innings, see what the other team is doing, and we can create an in-game scouting report from that, too. So it’s pretty unique.

I would imagine every guy is a little bit different in how they like to prepare. What is he like when you’re going over everything pregame?

He does a good job of looking at the hitters. But we obviously know what he does well, and we stick to his strengths because, oftentimes, they’re going to be better than other people’s. So it’s pick and choose, but we keep his strengths in mind, whether it be to light up the fastball a little bit more, or fastball-change, or if we have to spin a team a little bit more. We know what he does well. Without going all the way into it, we know what he likes to do, and just try to have a little bit of leeway on the fly.

Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal has a 2.15 ERA in his first 20 outings with Dillon Dingler behind the plate. (Jesse Johnson / Imagn Images)

You said the trust was already there. Was that through previous experience in spring training or bullpens? Or something else?

Obviously, it wasn’t completely there. You have to have a few outings with a guy before you feel comfortable, especially from his end. I was a guy who just got up. I feel like it’s definitely better now than it’s ever been. We have full trust in each other now. We have constant communication to make sure that if he sees something or he wants something, he can get it, and there’s no hard feelings. You try not to have an ego about anything with anyone in this room because hitters can see different things. Pitchers can see different things than hitters when they’re throwing. I can see different things behind the plate.

So was there ever a moment or a pitch where it was like, “All right, we’re in sync,” or “All right, he definitely fully trusts me”?

I’m sure there’s a handful every game. It’s funny. Maybe it’s his curveball, like his fourth pitch or fifth pitch. So maybe it’s burying a curveball, but we know it’s gonna work. There are certain things that are off the wall or out there where it’s like, “But this would work.”

And we have seen you guys be pretty creative at times.

It would probably be a situation with nobody on. Obviously, we’re gonna stick to our strengths in tight situations. But it’s things like that.

Dillon Dingler defensive metrics

StatBlocks above avgCS above avgFraming runsDefensive run value

Value

10

2

8

11

MLB percentile

95

75

96

97

He’s pretty good every time out. But is there any sort of tell, or do you know when he’s really dialed in?

I feel like it’s the same product every time he goes out there. I don’t really notice anything different. Maybe it’s just the overall intensity from a big game. He’s pitched in a few big games already this year, and it just feels different. Everybody is rising to the occasion, and he’s rising to the occasion. He’s getting really fired up.

People have talked about his intensity since probably the first time he pitched in this organization. When did you realize, “OK, this guy is a real competitor”?

Last year, when I got up and was able to see his starts. I was watching him from the dugout. The movement, the intensity, him firing up the crowd after getting out of a big spot or finishing an outing. It’s a lot of emotion. It’s hard to do. I’m not sure I could do it. But he’s the best at it.

We see how he is in here before a start. It’s pretty normal. In the dugout between innings, what’s his demeanor?

Same thing. But I think when he crosses that line, he becomes who he is out there.

So did you ever have a time where it was like, “OK, this is why he’s the Cy Young winner”?

I think it’s ultimately an accumulation of everything. Him going out there every single time and doing the same thing over and over and over again. And you think maybe it’s going to be different. Maybe you think hitters are going to be on certain things. And it’s just, no matter what they’re doing, he’s got an answer for it.

That’s a great point. Every guy in here has had really good outings. The best do it every time out. And that’s probably the hardest thing to do.

Exactly. And that’s why he’s as good as he is.

What else have you learned from working with him?

He’s not stuck in his ways. He’s willing to adapt. He’s willing to go off script sometimes. But ultimately, he’s got some of the best weapons to where he can pretty much pitch however he wants to. It makes my job a lot easier, and it makes it a whole hell of a lot more fun.

That’s been the story of his career, too. He was really good coming up. But the pitcher he is now and the pitcher he was in 2021 are totally different. The way he uses his stuff is totally different.

Completely. So it’s pretty cool how it’s altered. Or evolved, more so.

(Top photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)