Detroit Tigers Weekly Minor League Recap: Dominant Dingler

Detroit Tigers Minor League Recap – Week 2

West Michigan Whitecaps, 4-7, t5th (3.5 GB) in the High-A Central, East Division

The West Michigan Whitecaps made their home debut with six games against their in-state rival the Great Lakes Loons. But West Michigan’s offense was absent for most of the week and they went just 2-4. Tuesday’s home opener got ugly early as starter Keider Montero (2IP, 5H, 4ER, BB, 3K) couldn’t get an out in the 3rd inning, and the Whitecaps offense managed just two hits in a 9-1 loss. The ‘Caps bats seemed to wake up on Wednesday as they took a 7-0 lead, but the Loons battled back and even took the an 8-7 lead in the 9th before Daniel Cabrera hit a game-tying double and then scored the winning run on a wild pitch. Andre Lipcius went 3-for-4 with a home run on Thursday, but the offense could never put together a rally and West Michigan lost 4-1.

The bats stayed quiet over the weekend, with the Whitecaps managing just two hits until the 9th inning on Friday when Dillon Dingler hit the epic, 2-out, 2-strike, game-tying home run you see above. Unfortunately Great Lakes pulled out the 3-2 victory in 11 innings. Saturday’s game was delayed a bit by rain and the teams combined for just 8 hits, but West Michigan loaded the bases in the 9th inning and Spencer Torkelson blooped a single into center to give his club a walk-off win. Sunday’s finale saw the ‘Caps go hitless until the 6th inning. Montero once again flashed interesting stuff but failed to go deep into the game (3.2IP, 8H, 4R, 0ER, 0BB, 6K) as his defense committed four errors behind him. The Whitecaps made a comeback attempt, punctuated by a Bryant Packard home run, but they ultimately fell 7-4.

• Dingler is off to a strong start on both sides of the ball, showcasing impressive defense and arm strength while maintaining a 1.011 OPS that ranks 5th in the league.
• Sam Kessler has been effectively wild for the Whitecaps this season, The 2019 34th-round pick has walked 8 and struck out 10 in 7 IP, but he owns a 0.00 ERA because he has only allowed one hit.
• West Michigan is batting just .186 as a team so far this season, which is ahead of only Great Lakes (.185) in the league. The Whitecaps own the league’s worst team OPS at just .594.