The left fielder for the Detroit Tigers, Riley Greene, is already a two-time All-Star and he is only 25-years-old. He has made a splash in the Majors for both good and not-so-good reasons. On defense he is arguably one of the best at his position and on offense he is one of the best bats that the Tigers had on the roster this year.
However, there were issues with a few things when he was swinging a bat and it was put on display specifically in the struggling second half of the season that the Tigers had and then again in the postseason.
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Greene, in most aspects, had the best numbers of his career at the plate. He led the team in both home runs (36) and RBI (111). But, that isn’t all. Greene also had the most doubles on the team (31), but total hits as well (155). His offense isn’t the only thing that makes him an elite player, but he is also able to make plays in the field.
By the end of the season Greene had the third-best fielding percentage amongst all left fielders in baseball with a .992. He also sat with the third-fewest errors at his position with two trailing only Ian Happ and Brandon Nimmo who both had one.
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Nobody will ever forget the historic comeback that the Cleveland Guardians had to take the division from the Tigers this season. When the ballclub was fighting to just keep their season alive Greene was his worst at the plate.
In his last 15 games of the regular season he had a .161 batting average, paired with a .226 on-base percentage and 20 strikeouts which makes it safe to say he didn’t contribute much offensively when they needed him. By the end of the year he had amassed 200 strikeouts which was the first time in franchise history for a player to do so.
Greene is locked in with the team until ’29 as that is when he will become a free agent. He is arguably a superstar in the making and the organization could benefit keeping him around in the next couple years if they can continue to help him grow. There are lots of great things that he does that make him who he is as a player and he could eventually be the face of the franchise.
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