Tigers not out of the woods with Dillon Dingler injury as slow motion replay raises concern

The Tigers' IL is still longer than anyone would like it to be, but they've gone some time without losing a key position player. The offense certainly still misses Gleyber Torres, but the rest of Detroit's everyday players have been lucky enough to stay healthy. The era of losing one, sometimes even two, every couple of weeks seems to be behind us.

But that was only part of the reason why Dillon Dingler being pulled from Wednesday's game against the Athletics set off a sinking feeling in fans' guts. Not only have we seemed mostly out of the woods in terms of injuries, the Tigers cannot afford to lose Dingler.

In the top of the second, Jacob Wilson fouled a pitch from Troy Melton on the slightest of swings, and the ball went straight into Dingler's bare right hand. There was an on-field delay as Dingler was checked out and tossed the ball around the infield a few times. He finished the half-inning, but Jake Rogers came in to pitch in the bottom frame.

Dingler received X-rays after the game, which initially came back negative. But the Tigers aren't taking any chances, and he'll undergo further testing on Thursday morning. If the contact looked as bad as it did on slow-mo replay, he'll almost certainly be out of the lineup on Thursday evening, even if just as a precautionary measure.

Dillon Dingler to undergo further testing after taking foul ball off the hand in Tigers-Athletics

Dingler and Kevin McGonigle have been the Tigers' two best, most indispensable players this year; losing either would make fans fearful that the Tigers were inviting another May-esque spiral, which they suffered right after losing Tarik Skubal.

Arguably, though, Dingler is even more important on both sides of the ball. The Tigers need McGonigle's consistency at the top of the order, but the pitching staff needs Dingler behind the dish as much as the offense needs him hitting behind McGonigle. His bat has been so valuable that AJ Hinch rarely gives him full off days. Even if he's not behind the plate, he's still DH'ing.

We'll keep our fingers crossed for more good news to come out of Detroit today. Not ony do the Tigers desperately need him healthy, Dingler is due for the first All-Star Game appearance of his career this weekend, and fans want to see him out there with the rest of the AL stars.

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