Hello Dynasty Baseball fans, and welcome to our poorly-named-yet-well-written, Companion Article Series! We will be publishing these the day after each team’s Top 10 Prospect Lists are shared. And while we will focus on the same organization, our companion pieces will not always be prospect-centric. Every author will choose to share their thoughts on whatever aspect of the team they are writing about. And if you want more than our Top 10 Lists and Companion Articles, donate $15 now to get over 20 prospects ranked per team plus access to our full rankings (pre-season, mid-year, FYPD, Org prospects). Or a $20 donation for the full rankings sheet and our Discord Channel. The link to our donation page can be found here.

For all the attention we give to top prospects and how they adjust as they move up levels in their respective organizations, we probably overlook mid-level prospects. When the latter group does debut and do well, we’ll label them the Late Bloomers. This is a great way to put the “blame” on them for blooming late and off of us in the industry for not seeing what was really going on. Gold Glover Dillon Dingler is a great example of this.

I use the Gold Glover descriptive with purpose here, because although very few of our leagues include fielding, Dingler is a catcher. Catchers are a risk of moving off the position for many reasons. Gold Glove catchers tend to stick at the position. The dynasty manager will find comfort in knowing their Gold Glove catcher will not be losing catcher eligibility any time soon.

Dingler was drafted out of The Ohio The State The University in 2020. After a brief start at Single-A Lakeland in 2021, he was promoted to High-A West Michigan where in 32 games he posted a .287/.376/.549  slash line with a 155 wRC+. That led to another promotion, this time to Double-A Erie where he struggled (.202/.264/.314, 57 wRC+). I’m sure that if we looked him at all that off-season, we’d see that 97 wRC+ for all three levels for the year and tell ourselves to move on.

In 2022 Dingler spent the whole year in Double-A and posted a 109 wRC+ but the .238 batting average was a red flag overshadowing the 14 home runs and 58 RBI. The following year, he was raking in Double-A, a 133 wRC+ in 51 games earning a promotion to Triple-A Toledo where he again struggled with a .202 average and paltry 61 wRC+. I imagine that even if fantasy managers looked at the overall 127 wRC+, they were quick to look at the Triple-A numbers and move on.

In 2024, Dingler was handling Triple-A with ease. In 71 games, he posted a .308/.379/.559 slash line. This earned him a promotion to the majors where he, say it with me now, struggled. As the Tigers put together their comeback for the ages, Dingler backed up Jake Rogers well behind the plate, but only hit .167 in 87 at bats. At this point in time, he would have been available in all but the deepest of fantasy leagues.

In 2025, Dingler took advantage of the opportunity presented by an injury to Rogers and grabbed the starting position. In addition to Gold Glove catching, he hit 13 home runs, 57 RBI and hit .278, all good for a 109 wRC+. This year the batting average has dropped, but it’s a BABIP thing and his 49.5% hard hit rate indicates that balls are going to start dropping in or clearing fences with more regularity. In spite of that, only two catchers currently have more RBI than his 26, and he has a 106 wRC+. In a dynasty fantasy league, I can name six or seven catchers I’d rather have, but I can’t easily name ten, especially for short term impact.

Lat year shortly before the All-Star break I was watching a Tigers game when Chris Harris, President of Baseball Operations, was being interviewed. When asked about Dingler, specifically was he surprised by the “breakout,” he said he was not. He went on to say that they knew at every level Dingler had adjustment issues then came back the next year able to master that level.

Since then, I’ve taken a bit more time looking at prospects who have needed time to adjust immediately after a promotion to a higher level. Dynasty fantasy managers are a fickle crowd and patience is not a strong suit across the board, but it should be. I know that the “late bloomers” can be picked up late in most of our leagues for exactly that reason, but personally, if I roster a player who doesn’t adjust to a promotion, I’ll be thinking longer before moving off of him.

I’m writing this as Gage Workman is basking in the glow of his first major league home run, and as I look at his progression through the minors, I see a similar pattern. I don’t think he’ll necessarily be a top ten third baseman in the near future, but if he gets second base eligibility…

And if you’re still reading this far, go take a look at what Baltimore prospect Victor Figueroa is doing after not being able to handle High-A pitching last year.  You’re welcome.