Tarik Skubal praised Tigers rookie after first start without Jake Rogers since 2023

Personal catchers have sort of fallen out of vogue in the last few years, but Tarik Skubal and Jake Rogers' relationship has pretty much been that of an ace and a personal catcher. The last time Skubal threw to anyone but Rogers ahead of Tuesday's game against the Yankees was Sept. 3, 2023, when Carson Kelly was behind the plate. But Rogers was Skubal's guy for all 31 of his starts during his Cy Young-winning 2023 campaign, and his first two starts this year.

However, Rogers was scratched from the lineup on Tuesday and then moved to the IL with oblique tightness, leaving Dillon Dingler to pair up with Skubal for the first time. Superstition suggested that it was a bad sign, but apart from four singles, Skubal was almost perfect through six innings against the Yankees.

After the game, Skubal heaped praise on Dingler, who also provided some run support when he got in on the Tigers' fourth-inning action with a solo homer.

"He's great back there. Our whole catching department's great back there," Skubal said. "Obviously Rog, we have a pretty special connection; I think that's pretty clear. But they'll all be great."

Tarik Skubal gave kudos to Dillon Dingler, Tigers catching staff after his first start without Jake Rogers since September 2023

Catcher is undeniably the hardest position to play in baseball, and it was a tall order for Dingler, who was called up late last July, to get to know the Tigers' pitching staff quickly, especially when they were on the verge of their monumental playoff push. Dingler was quick to prepare to replace Rogers as soon as the possibility he'd be scratched from the lineup arose, but he really only had a few spring training bullpen sessions to go off of, in terms of preparation.

With that in mind, Skubal set out to make him comfortable, first and foremost. "I really didn't want to shake [a sign] today at all, because I wanted to show him that I trust him," the lefty added. "And I shook one time because I missed a pitch and I thought I could execute it again and get the result I wanted, and I didn't. So I probably shouldn't have shook."

Dingler's also been impressing at the plate so far this season; on top of his solo homer (his second of the year), he's batting .364 with a 1.118 OPS and seven RBI in seven games. Although the Tigers have been adamant about not having a primary catcher-backup catcher arrangement, but rather co-catchers, Dingler has already stepped into a leading role with Rogers on the IL and Tomás Nido called up for the interim.