Detroit Tigers: 3 prospects on the verge of becoming irrelevant

It's do-or-die time for these Detroit Tigers prospects

The Detroit Tigers saw a lot of positive development from a few key prospects last year. Parker Meadows, Wenceel Perez, Wilmer Flores, and others put themselves back on the prospect map. Now here in 2023, they will hope for more development from other prospects.

There are several propects in the Detroit Tigers organization that need to have big years in 2023. These are guys that have been in the system for a few years now, and have either stalled in their development after a good start or just haven't worked out so far.

With the new development team the Tigers have, there's reason to believe a few more prospects can rise out of the woodwork. Here are three that we'd like to see turn their careers around.

C Dillon Dingler

Dingler was a second-round pick in 2020 out of Ohio State. He got off to a sizzling start in 2021 at High-A West Michigan, hitting eight home runs and putting up a 149 wRC+ in 141 plate appearances. He was quickly promoted to Double-A along with Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson. Unlike the latter two, he struggled mightily. He hit just .202 with a 59 wRC+. He also missed time with an injury.

He was pretty pedestrian in 2022. He slashed .238/.333/.419 with 14 home runs and a 107 wRC+. He had a very solid 10% walk rate, but struck out 32% of the time. He has really stalled out following a strong start.

Now at 24 years old, this is a big year for Dingler. He probably profiles as a backup as this point barring a breakout season. He was a part of the first round of spring training cuts earlier this week, and apparently A.J. Hinch gave him some tough love.

Chirs McCosky of The Detroit News was part of the radio broadcast of the game on Tuesday, and he revealed that A.J. Hinch told Dingler that he had a lot to work on and needed to see more from him. He was real with Dingler. That's part of what makes Hinch a good manager. He's honest with his players.

Dingler needs to show us something in 2023. It sounds like he may start back at Double-A. If he doesn't figure it out this year, he likely won't factor into the Tigers plans going forward.