The Tigers announced that they have recalled catcher/first baseman Eduardo Valencia. In a corresponding move, outfielder Jahmai Jones has been designated for assignment. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reported on the Valencia promotion prior to the club announcement.
Though catcher Dillon Dingler wasn’t mentioned in today’s moves, they are related to him. Dingler took a foul ball of his hand yesterday and was replaced in the game by Jake Rogers. The club later announced to reporters, including Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic, that X-rays on Dingler’s hand came back negative. Dingler hasn’t been placed on the injured list but perhaps he will miss a day or two. The Tigers don’t want to play with Rogers as their only catcher, even for a few days, so they’ve added another backstop.
Valencia, 26, will make his major league debut if he gets into a game. He was added to Detroit’s 40-man roster in November to keep him from being available in the Rule 5 draft. An international signing out of Venezuela, he seemed to have a breakout in 2025. Between Double-A and Triple-A, he hit 24 home runs in 103 games. He slashed .311/.382/.559 for a wRC+ of 159. This year’s offense has been very good but not quite as potent. He has 16 home runs in 76 games, a .267/.353/.486 line and 122 wRC+.
Despite that strong work from the batter’s box, Valencia’s prospect stock is divisive. Baseball America ranks him 27th in the system, describing him as a poor defender both behind the plate and at first base. FanGraphs is more bullish and put him in the #8 spot in the offseason, but even that outlet noted that Valencia is likely to end up in a reserve role. For now, Valencia gives the Tigers some extra cover behind the plate. It may be a short stint in the majors if Dingler’s hand is feeling okay in the coming days.
Adding that extra catcher means Jones loses his roster spot. The Tigers got great results out of him in a short-side platoon role last year. Signed to a minor league deal in the 2024-25 offseason, Jones was called up in June last summer. He went on to hit a tremendous .287/.387/.550 for a wRC+ of 159. A righty swinger, he did most of his damage against lefties, with a .288/.393/.577 line and 167 wRC+ in the split.
He hasn’t been able to carry that over into 2026. He has a measly .137/.219/.221 line on the year. Part of that is due to a .190 batting average on balls in play but he’s also suddenly striking out at a 33.3% clip, a huge jump from last year’s 21.3% pace. He has been better against lefties but his .154/.250/.256 line is still quite poor.
Given those immense struggles, it’s no surprise that he has been bumped off the roster. Since he’s out of options, that means he has been nudged into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Tigers could take five days to explore trade interest, but they could also put him on the wire sooner if they so choose.
Perhaps there’s some club out there who has a plan to get him back to last year’s form but it’s also possible that clubs are dissuaded by this year’s big swoon. Jones has a previous career outright and would therefore have the right to elect free agency if he is outrighted again.
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
