Lakeland, Fla. — There were no surprises among the Tigers’ first cuts, which were delivered Tuesday morning.
But that doesn’t make them less harsh on those who were sent out.
“It’s a long spring with some split-squad games left, so we will probably see all of them back here before the end of camp (as game reserves),” manager AJ Hinch said. “But it’s important that the players who are left in camp and trying to make our team know the dial is turned up a little more every time we make moves like this.”
Reassigned to minor-league camp were pitchers Elvis Alvarado and Adam Wolf, catchers Dillon Dingler and Julio Rodriguez, and infielders Colt Keith and Justyn-Henry Malloy.
It was the end of a particularly rough spring for Dingler. Counting the summer camp of 2020, the year the Tigers drafted him in the second round, this was his fourth big-league camp and he essentially served as a bullpen catcher.
The Tigers’ 11th-rated prospect per MLB Pipeline got into five games and had five plate appearances. It is possible Dingler will start the season back at Double-A Erie.
“Our message to him was to continue to challenge himself, regardless of what level he’s going to be at,” Hinch said. “We told him to hold himself to a high bar. He sees some of his peers that he’s come through the minors with get pushed a little faster.”
Often though, the road to the big leagues is slower for catchers.
“As a catcher, he just has so much more responsibility that we’re going to expect him to be better at for him to continue to get pushed,” Hinch said. “We’re hoping he becomes obsessed with some of the small things.”
Hinch listed several areas: making a swing adjustment to help reduce some of the in-zone swing-and-miss, improve his pitch framing and game-planning and continue to build on some of the things he does naturally well behind the plate.
“The list is long because of the position he plays and the responsibility that’s bestowed upon him,” Hinch said. “He has the ability to do it, but there are ways for him to improve and we’re going to continue to lean on him harder to do it.”
On the other end of the spectrum, the 21-year-old Keith made a strong impression.
“He did a lot of growing and learning in these few weeks,” Hinch said. “He can hit. I told him that we need to get him as comfortable on the dirt (at third base) as he is in the batter’s box.”
As for Malloy, the No. 7-ranked prospect the Tigers acquired from the Braves for Joe Jimenez, it was a chance to reacclimate to playing third base. The Braves had moved him left field last season.
“We’re still focused on him at third base but we’re not ruling out moving him around,” Hinch said. “I told him the reason we wanted to keep him at third base here was to get his feet wet.”
Malloy only played in five games.
“How often we forget that this physically mature kid with a bright smile and big personality was just a year ago getting indoctrinated in pro ball,” Hinch said. “It was a meteoric rise through the minors. His youthfulness was a reminder that these kids need time.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky
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