Jack Flaherty says exactly what everyone's thinking amid Dillon Dingler's breakout Tigers season

Although it took them far too long, the rest of baseball is catching up to something Tigers fans already know: Dillon Dingler is really, really good.

So far this month, he's hitting .357 with a 1.098 OPS, three homers, and seven RBI. He has 26 homers and 79 RBI on the season, Detroit's leader in both categories by far. During their series against the Mariners, he went 7-for-14 with a homer in each game. And he's doing it all as a catcher. One of the best catchers in the game, no less. Dingler is elite by almost every defensive metric.

His 5.1 fWAR is the fourth-best in baseball behind Pete Crow-Armstrong, Shohei Ohtani, and Yordan Alvarez. Alvarez is having an incredible season — he's heading for the first MLB Triple Crown since Mickey Mantle in 1956 — but Dingler is leaving zero room to doubt who should be No. 2 in those conversations.

And if Alvarez were to fade down the stretch or get a little anti-DH-only working against him? Dingler may really have a shot at becoming Detroit's first MVP since Miguel Cabrera in 2013. Jack Flaherty said as much during Dingler's 3-for-6 night during the Mariners finale.

Dillon Dingler belongs in the MVP conversation after breakout Tigers season

Both MVP races are shaping up to be far more interesting than they have been in the past two years, when Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani were the shoo-in winners. Ohtani might still have an argument in the National League, but multiple injuries have him losing ground to Crow-Armstrong. In the American League, Judge has been hurt since May and no one knows when he might be back. Bobby Witt Jr. looked like the obvious heir apparent, but he also spent some time on the IL.

No one is doubting Alvarez's dominance this season. He's quite literally the best hitter in the game this year by almost every metric. But, similar to Ohtani's 50/50 season, it could take him running away with the Triple Crown to get through to the voters who kept DHs from winning an MVP award until 2024 Ohtani. (Alvarez does have 19 appearances in left field this year, but it's hard to call him anything but a DH).

That's where Dingler comes in. It's a very easy argument to make: he just plays a more complete brand of baseball than Alvarez does. He's turning into an elite player on both sides of the ball. He's already one.

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