In August, he had a rehab stint with the Gulf Coast League Tigers, appearing in ten games and posting a .412 batting average.

He was promoted to the Erie SeaWolves (Detroit's AA affiliate and a member of the Eastern League) on May 8 and he played with them for the rest of the year.

A right hamstring strain kept Dirks out of action from August 20–30 and he finished the year having appeared in 98 games with Erie and 22 with Toledo.

During his shorter stint with the Mud Hens, Dirks put up a .375 batting average, knocked 4 homers and plated 17 runners.

[2] At the end of the 2010 season, Dirks received the Detroit Tigers minor league player of the year award.

His performance there earned him the honor of International League player of the week for the period of April 25 – May 1, as he had a .433 average and drove in five runs during that span.

[2][5] He hit his first major league home run on May 23, 2011, at Comerica Park versus Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jeremy Hellickson.

[1] The Tigers made the playoffs as division champions in 2011[6] and advanced to the American League Championship Series (ALCS), where they faced the Texas Rangers.

[2] As Este did not make the playoffs, Dirks joined the Leones del Escogido for the Dominican Winter League postseason.

His performance with Leones, which included two game–winning base hits, helped them to win both the Winter League championship and the Caribbean Series.

This marked the team's largest ninth inning comeback since the 1947 Tigers accomplished the same feat in a 7–6 win over the Washington Senators.

[17] Following the 2013 season, Dirks was named a finalist for the Gold Glove Award for the left field position alongside Alex Gordon and Yoenis Céspedes.

[19] Dirks was named the fifth best left fielder in the majors by The Fielding Bible based on voting by a ten-member expert panel.

[20] Expected to be the Tigers primary left fielder in 2014, it was announced early in spring training that Andy had to undergo surgery to repair a lower back issue.

After a week of game action, it was announced that the Tigers recalled Dirks from his rehab assignment due to lower back muscular inflammation from increased activity, and would keep him on the disabled list.

[22] On July 31, the Tigers announced that Dirks would resume his rehab assignment, this time with the low Class A West Michigan Whitecaps.