There will be no Detroit Tigers starting in the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, at least for now.
As revealed by MLB on Thursday, June 25, the Tigers had zero players named as American League All-Star finalists for the game July 14 in Philadelphia.That’s a big snub for two players in particular – catcher Dillon Dingler, who leads all catchers in FanGraphs WAR at 3.7, and shortstop Kevin McGonigle, who is second in the AL among shortstops in fWAR at 3.3.
Neither was expected to move on after the first phase of voting, with Dingler lagging behind the Athletics’ Shea Langaliers and Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk (who has appeared in 13 games this season) and McGonigle well behind Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. and Toronto’s Andrés Giménez among shortstops.
Langaliers and Kirk were officially named finalists for the AL catcher nod on Thursday, while Witt and Giménez were named finalists as shortstops.
As of Monday, the Tigers player closest to being named a finalist was outfielder Riley Greene, who was slashing .289/.385/.439 over 80 games entering Thursday’s game. But he missed out on being named one of the six outfield finalists, with the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger, the Blue Jays’ Daulton Varsho and Jesús Sánchez, the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout and the Minnesota Twins’ Byron Buxton all named finalists.
The Tigers will have representation in this year’s All-Star Game, however. The league mandates at least one All-Star for each of its 30 clubs.
Plus, the fan voting process excludes pitchers, who get selected via a player ballot and by the Commissioner’s Office. Players can also be named to the All-Star team as injury replacements, something that could very well happen with Dingler or McGonigle.
Still, the results lie in stark contrast to last year’s results, when four Tigers were named as starters (Greene, 2B Gleyber Torres, LHP Tarik Skubal and CF Javier Báez) and two others as reserves (RHP Casey Mize, UTL Zach McKinstry). And while this year’s starters have yet to be finalized, the Tigers may drop from four All-Star starters in 2025 to zero in 2026.
It’s a small window into how far the Tigers (34-46 entering Thursday’s game) have fallen over the past year: They were 51-31, tied for the best record in baseball, on June 25, 2025.
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kevin McGonigle, Dillon Dingler, Riley Greene fall off All-Star ballot
Reporting by Christian Romo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Christian Romo, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
