Inside the Article:
As the Detroit Tigers faced the Milwaukee Brewers in the second of a three-game series, there was a notable change in their line-up: Riley Greene, the 22-year-old center fielder, and the Tigers’ 2019 No. 5 overall pick was sitting on the bench. Greene had been struggling to find his groove and was in the midst of a slump, hitting .221 with only two home runs and the most strikeouts in the American League.
Why it matters:
The Detroit Tigers’ young center fielder, Riley Greene, is currently facing a slump in his performance, with his ground-ball rate being 58.5%, and his batting average at .221 in 22 games, and he leads the American League in strikeouts (33). Despite these struggles, Manager A.J. Hinch still trusts in Greene’s abilities and believes in his potential for improvement.
Riley Greene By the Numbers:
- In 22 games, Greene has a batting average of .221 with two home runs, seven walks, and 33 strikeouts, the most in the American League.
- Over the past 16 games, he has a batting average of .175 with one homer, five walks, and 25 strikeouts.
- Greene has a 58.5% ground ball rate and is pulling the ball 35.8% of the time. This pairs with a 41.3% rate of topping the baseball.
What they’re saying:
There is no doubt that the Tigers need Greene to get things figured out at the plate, though patience is in order for the young, budding face of the franchise. He barely has 500 MLB at-bats in his career and will begin to figure things out. A.J. Hinch believes, and so too does Riley:
“I know much was said about him coming up, and we think he’s going to be a tremendous player, and we trust him. We trust him to do the work behind the scenes to get in a better position in the batter’s box. It’s only a matter of time,” says Manager A.J. Hinch.
“I’m in a good position to pull the trigger in the box… I’m just going to try to stay confident (mentally) and trust my swing and trust in my ability to hit and grind it out.” – Riley Greene
The Bottom Line:
Despite Greene’s struggles in his performance, he remains confident and mentally prepared to grind through his slump. Manager A.J. Hinch trusts him to work hard and improve, keeping faith in his abilities and potential to develop into a tremendous player. The Tigers will need their young gun to get going sooner rather than later and hopefully the day off yesterday will be just the reset that he needs.
