Sunday Notes: Dillon Dingler Discusses Creativity, Tarik Skubal Talks Shape
Tarik Skubal started a spring training game I attended back in March — I believe it was in Dunedin — and something he said following the outing caught my attention. Speaking to a small group of reporters, the Detroit Tigers southpaw said “Ding was really creative back there today. I loved the pitch mix. I felt like he was using every weapon we needed.”
I asked Skubal if he could elaborate.
“I don’t know to explain it other than the flow was great,” he replied. “Mixing spin in counts where we typically don’t throw spin, then going to back to spin to get to the changeup. I felt like he was in control today. He was pressing the right buttons and I was synced up. It’s part of the sport where things happen subconsciously.”
Ding is, of course, All-Star catcher Dillon Dingler. Four months after Skubal spoke those words, I had an opportunity to ask the backstop how he would describe creativity within the framework of game-calling — not just when the Tigers ace is on the mound, but for the staff as a whole.
“You’re not going to try to recreate the wheel,” replied Dingler, whose diligent game prep is well-chronicled. “You’re going to stick with strengths, so it’s about finding different avenues to get to those strengths. That could be spinning in certain counts, spinning early, not showing the fastball until later. Then, once they’re on the fastball you can go changeup or to something else. There are a bunch of different avenues to get to the final result.
“One pitch is usually the biggest strength against a certain hitter,” he continued. “You always want to lean on that. Obviously, there are different things that you can do, but ultimately, if a guy sucks on changeups — he usually swings over the top of them — you want to get to that pitch. At the same time, if he shows you that he’s not on time for the fastball, you can go with the four-seam. Again, it depends on the avenue. A lot goes into it. It’s mostly trusting your eyes, but also not getting too far away [from the plan].”
I suggested to Dingler that creativity and data-driven plans don’t necessarily have to be mutually exclusive.
“No,” he replied. “They go hand-in-hand.”
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Skubal had a strong outing against the Athletics on Tuesday night, after which Detroit News beat writer Chris McCloskey asked him about the depth he’d been getting on his changeup. The southpaw had thrown his often-unhittable offering 22 times (out of 96 pitches) to the tune of 15 swings and seven whiffs. Per Baseball Savant, it had averaged 31 inches of vertical drop — right at his seasonal average —and 12 inches of horizontal, two fewer than average.
As expected, the reigning back-to-back Cy Young Award winner was insightful with his response.
“That shape is all about the seams,” said Skubal. “I’ve driven myself crazy trying to create the same shape over and over again. Sometimes the seams catch and they’re really depth-y and sometimes they don’t catch and they’re not. I think it was a normal shape today. Sometimes where you throw it will [make it] look like it has more depth. If I’m not pulling the changeup into my glove side, sometimes it doesn’t look like it has much depth. But when it’s going to my arm side and is executed well, those look like they run and go down a little bit more.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Cesar Cedeno went 7 for 7 against Steve Engel.
Taylor Douthit went 7 for 7 against Rube Ehrhardt.
Phil Gagliano went 7 for 7 against Dave McNally.
Monk Sherlock went 7 for 7 against Tom Zachary.
Dave Winfield went 9 for 10 against Lee Guetterman.
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Joshua Kuroda-Grauer is off to a strong start. Since making his MLB debut with the Athletics on June 29, the 23-year-old infielder has gone 18-for-41 (.439) with four doubles and a 179 wRC+. Moreover, he has been punched out just five times. His bat-to-ball results aren’t surprising. Ranked 14th with a 40 FV when our A’s Top Prospects list came out in April, Kuroda-Grauer was described by Eric Longenhagen as having “exceptional hand-eye coordination and contact ability.”
Selected 75th overall in the 2024 draft out of Rutgers University, the New Brunswick, New Jersey native was playing for the High-A Lansing Lugnuts when I first talked to him later that season. I recently caught up with the hot-hitting rookie to ask how much he has evolved as a player since our initial conversation.
“I think I’ve changed a lot,” Kuroda-Grauer told me. “Making my body stronger, bigger, faster has been a big thing over the two off-seasons since we spoke last. I’ve been progressing, working on the little things, working on my swing, just trying to get better every day.
“Putting on some good muscle has helped me impact the ball in spots where I get a good pitch to drive,” he added. “But I’m still mostly just trying to hit line drives all over the field. I try to keep it simple and just try to get a good pitch to hit, and that’s especially the case at this level where you’re facing the best pitchers in the world.”
How hard is it to stay even-keeled and keep things simple while playing under the bright lights for the first time?
“Honestly, simplicity is what got me here,” Kuroda-Grauer replied. “Hopefully it keeps me here for awhile.”
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A quiz:
Three different pitchers have started five All-Star games. Who are they? (A hint: all Hall of Famers, their respective won-lost records pitching in the World Series are 6-0, 3-3, and 0-1.)
The answer can be found below.
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NEWS NOTES
The KBO’s Samsung Lions announced on Saturday that they have signed Chris Paddack for the remainder of the season. A veteran of eight MLB seasons, the 30-year-old right-hander was 0-7 with a 6.79 ERA this year pitching for three teams, most recently the Texas Rangers.
Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, has been added as a featured speaker to the forthcoming national SABR convention, which will be held in Cleveland from July 29-August 2. Information can be found here.
Darrell Jackson, a southpaw who logged 411 innings across 102 appearances for the Minnesota Twins from 1978-1982, died this past Monday at age 70. A Los Angeles native, Jackson had a record of 20-27 to go with a 4.38 ERA.
Al Holland, a lefty reliever who pitched for five teams across the 1977-1987 seasons, died earlier this week at age 73. A closer for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1983 and 1984, he recorded 54 of his 78 saves in that two-year span. Holland was involved in four trades over the course of his career, with notables such as John Candelaria, Mike Krukow, Bill Madlock, Joe Morgan, and Kent Tekulve among those changing uniforms in the quartet of deals.
Phil Regan a right-hander from Otsego, Michigan who played for four teams across the 1960-1972 seasons, died this past week at age 89. Nicknamed “The Vulture” after posting a record of 14-1 while pitching out of the bullpen for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1966, Regan finished his career 96-81 with 92 saves and a 3.84 ERA. He was featured here at FanGraphs in June 2019.
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The answer to the quiz is Lefty Gomez (who won all six World Series decisions while pitching for the New York Yankees), Don Drysdale, and Robin Roberts.
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Jacob Waguespack had some notable teammates when he pitched for NPB’s Orix Buffaloes in 2022 and 2023. One of them, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, is now among the best pitchers in MLB. Another, Masataka Yoshida, had solid MLB seasons in 2023 and 2024 — a .285 batting average and a 113 wRC+ over that span — but has since underachieved. I asked the 32-year-old left-hander about them earlier this week.
“Yamamoto is a hard worker — they’re both hard workers — who has his own deal, his own way of doing things,” recalled Waguespack, who is now pitching for the Detroit Tigers. “He perfects his craft every single day. Over there, they let you throw a lot more pitches, and if he was on pitch 120, or pitch three, his arm would be in the same spot every time. It’s like he never gets tired. His athleticism is at the top of the scale. He puts his body in the best position possible, so even though he’s not a big guy, he’s able to generate a lot of power with how efficiently his body moves.”
Yamamoto went 31-11 with a 1.46 ERA in the two seasons he shared a pitching staff with Waguespack. As for Yoshida, he slashed .335/.447/.561 with 21 home runs and a 202 wRC+ in 2022, his last season in NPB before coming stateside. He also had more walks than strikeouts.
“I had one year with Yoshida, and he’s got some of the best bat-to-ball skills I’ve ever seen,” continued Waguespack. “He’s able to cover all parts of the plate, and is one of those guys where if the game is on the line, you want him in the [batter’s] box. One thing I loved about him was that he was going to give you a good at-bat in any situation.”
I also asked Waguespack about a hitter he faced in Japan. Specifically, I wanted to know how he would compare Yoshida and Kensuke Kondoh. In 2023 — the southpaw’s last in NPB — Kondoh slashed .305/.433/.532 with 26 home runs and a 193 wRC+ with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. He went down on strikes twice as often as Yoshida, but also led all NLB batters in walks and walk rate.
“There were some similarities,” Waguespack said of the left-handed-hitting outfielders. “But Kondoh has a bit of a bigger swing than Yoshida, in my opinion. Kondoh hits for some power. He could also be on a lot of my pitches: curveball, changeup, fastball. But they were both really tough at-bats [for a pitcher]. I’m glad I didn’t have to face Yoshida.”
Now 32 years old and still with SoftBank, Kondoh has 20 home runs and a 192 wRC+ to go with a .296/.415/.593 slash line. He has a 15.7% walk rate and a 15.7% strikeout rate.
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Haruto Takahashi is 10-1 with a 1.66 ERA and a 1.70 FIP over 97-and-a-third innings for NPB’s Hanshin Tigers. The 30-year-old left-hander has logged 92 strikeouts, issued 11 free passes, and surrendered 64 hits.
Forrest Whitley is 3-4 with a 2.58 ERA and a 2.84 FIP over 69-and-two-thirds innings for the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. The 28-year-old erstwhile Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays hurler boasts a 29.2% strikeout rate — second highest in NPB behind only Hanshin’s Hiroto Saiki — and has surrendered just 37 hits.
Carson McCusker went deep three times on Friday and now has 11 home runs to go with a .292/.368/.584 slash line and a 176 wRC+ in 155 plate appearances for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. The 28-year-old former Minnesota Twins outfielder (16 games a year ago) signed with the NPB club back in December.
Riley Thompson 라일리 leads KBO pitchers with a 33.5% strikeout rate. The 30-year-old NC Dinos right-hander also has a record of 4-0 to go with a 3.53 ERA and a 3.48 FIP over 63-and-two-thirds innings. Thompson went 17-7 for the Changwon, South Korea last year after playing in the Chicago Cubs system from 2018-2024.
Seth Beer is slashing .351/.460/.635 with 15 home runs over 272 plate appearances for Olmecas de Tabasco in the hitter-friendly Mexican League. The 29-year-old erstwhile Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman played for the independent Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks last year.
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Blake Butera was well acquainted with Curtis Mead prior to their both coming to Washington over the offseason. The latter played in the Tampa Bay Rays system from 2021-2025, a period in which the former served as the organization’s farm director, and before that as a minor league manager. Butera was asked about the 25-year-old first baseman/third baseman from Adelaide, Australia prior to a recent game.
“He was really mature, always, from a pretty young age,” Butera told a small group of reporters. “I thought he saw the game really well, understood the game pretty well. And then, obviously, the talent. He hit the ball really hard at a young age. He had the ability to drive the ball to all fields when he was 19-20-21 years old. He got a shot in the big leagues [in 2023], but his playing time was pretty sporadic, which is never easy. Then we had a chance to acquire him. We thought there was some runway for him here. We believed… that if we could get him a comfortable environment, he would thrive.”
Mead is slashing .245/.340/.490 with a 128 wRC+ in 294 plate appearances. He has gone deep 16 times.
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FARM NOTES
Wednesday’s action included a wild affair that saw the Ontario Tower Buzzers (Low-A Dodgers) take a 16-0 lead, then hang on to edge the Inland Empire 66ers (Mariners) by a score of 22-21. Ching-Hsien Ko, a 19-year-old outfielder from Taiping, Taiwan, and Mairoshendrick Martinus, a 21-year-old shortstop from Willemstad, Curacao, both homered and drove in five runs for the winning side.
Alex Binelas left the yard on Thursday to help lead the Reading Fightin Phils (Double-A Phillies) to an 11-5 win over the Somerset Patriots (Yankees). Originally in the Milwaukee Brewers system — Philadelphia signed him after the Boston Red Sox released him in May of last year — the corner infielder from Oak Creek, Wisconsin is slashing .297/.409/.568 with 19 home runs in 320 plate appearances.
Connor Oliver is 6-1 with a 3.26 ERA and a 25.4% strikeout rate over 69 innings between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona. Drafted out of Miami University in the 17th round by the Kansas City Royals in 2023, the 25-year-old southpaw was subsequently swapped to Pittsburgh in exchange for Colin Selby. Oliver is unranked on our 2026 Pirates Top Prospects list.
Manuel Pena has a most-in-the-minors 29 home runs to go with a .319/.361/.632 slash line and a 129 wRC+ in 362 plate appearances between Double-A Amarillo and Triple-A Reno. The 22-year-old infielder was unranked when our Arizona Diamondbacks Top Prospects list was released prior to the season.
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A random obscure former player snapshot:
Larry Jackson doesn’t qualify as obscure for fans well-versed in 1950s-1960s baseball, but he is likely unfamiliar to those who aren’t. A four-time All-Star, the right-hander from Boise, Idaho logged 194 wins and a 3.30 ERA while pitching for three teams from 1955-1968. Jackson’s first eight seasons were spent with the St. Louis Cardinals, with whom he went 101-86, but his best year — at least in terms of the W-L column —- came with the Chicago Cubs. In 1964, he led NL pitchers with 24 win and finished second to Los Angeles Angels righty Dean Chance in Cy Young balloting (from 1956-1966, the award went to MLB’s top pitcher, not to one pitcher in each league).
His trade history is also notable. Jackson went from one arch-rival to another in October 1962 when the Cubs acquired him from the Cardinals as part of a six-player swap that also included Lindy McDaniel. A more impactful deal came in April 1966. The Cubs traded Jackson and Bob Buhl to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for three players, one of them being a young pitcher with eight big-league games under his belt. You’re definitely familiar with Fergie Jenkins.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Matt Olson passed Dale Murphy for the longest consecutive games streak in Atlanta Braves franchise history. MLB.com’s Zach Sweet has the story.
The Athletic’s Charlotte Varnes wrote about 18-year-old Landon Thome — the son of Hall of Fame slugger Jim Thome — who is expected to be an early-round pick in this weekend’s MLB draft.(Update: Thome was taken 34th overall by the Chicago White Sox.)
MLB Pipeline’s Sam Dykstra presented us with everything we need to know for today’s All-Star Futures Game.
Hanwha Eagles catcher In Seo Heo was named MVP of the KBO All-Star Game. Yoo Jee-ho has the story at Yonhap News Agency.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Pittsburgh Pirates batters have combined to hit 588 singles, the most in the majors. Cincinnati Reds batters have combined to hit 450 singles, the fewest in the majors.
Mauricio Dubón is 15-for-40 (.375) with two outs and runners in scoring position. He is 47 for 204 (.230) with the bases empty,
Luis Arraez has fanned 16 times and had 37 multi-hit games.
Jorge Soler has fanned 95 times and had seven multi-hit games.
With Dillon Dingler, Riley Greene, and Kevin McGonigle, the Detroit Tigers will have three homegrown position players on the All-Star team for the first time in four decades. Lance Parrish, Alan Trammell, and Lou Whitaker were All-Stars in 1985.
Red Ruffing recorded 273 wins and 521 hits.
Mike Musina recorded 270 wins and nine hits.
The Boston Red Sox ran roughshod over the Philadelphia Athletics on yesterday’s date in 1954, sweeping a double-header by scores of 18-0 and 11-1. The visitors out-hit the home side 40-10 across the two games, which were played at Connie Mack Stadium.
On tomorrow’s date in 1901, William Nance went 6-for-6 to help lead the Detroit Tigers to a 19-12 win over Cleveland. Davey Crockett, Kid Elberfeld, and Kid Gleason contributed three-hit efforts to the win. Nance was also known as “Kid” during his three-year MLB career.
Players born on today’s date include Dick Rusteck, whose MLB career comprised eight appearances for the New York Mets in 1966. A left-hander out of the University of Notre Dame, Rusteck threw a four-hit shutout against the Cincinnati Reds, then went on to finish with a record of 1-2 and a 3.00 ERA over 24 innings.
Also born on today’s date was Scipio Spinks, a right-hander who appeared in 35 games while pitching for three teams, mostly the St. Louis Cardinals, across the 1969-1973 seasons. A product of Chicago’s South Side whose ledger includes a record of 7-11 with a 3.70 ERA, Spinks gained reknown for keeping a large stuffed gorilla named Mighty Joe Young in his locker, and also taking it with him on road trips. He went on to become a pitching coach and a scout.