The Detroit Tigers opened a big series with the Houston Astros on Monday night as they continue their push toward the postseason. With the Tigers 8.5 games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians for first place in the American League Central, Detroit’s focus is on playoff seeding and a deep run into October.
This means that every at bat is critical. Even the biggest stars need to step up to help Detroit make a bid for it’s first World Series title since 1984 and the pressure can get the best of them. That includes one Tigers All-Star who started for the American League last month but may need a quick reset to put his best foot forward in October.
Riley Greene Is Becoming a Liability for Tigers in August
There’s a lot to like about how Riley Greene’s season has turned out. Coming off a breakout campaign where he hit .262/.348/.479 with 24 homers and 74 RBI for his first All-Star appearance, Green is still a productive hitter with a .265/.314/.507 batter’s line with 29 homers and 92 RBI. His OPS+ of 123 isn’t that far from the 131 he put up last season and he is still well above the league average of 100.
Considering the 24-year-old’s full resume, it would be preposterous to suggest he’s on thin ice. But there is something to be said for the way he’s struggled in August.
Green is one of the Tigers’ worst hitters this month, hitting .183/.242/.383 with three homers and eight RBI in 16 games. While the power numbers look decent, his weighted runs created plus (wRC+), which shows how many runs a player creates compared to the league average, is at 69, well below the league average of 100.
With Green also threatening Mark Reynolds’s single-season record of 223 strikeouts set in 2009, his struggles have become a hot topic. It’s also become a topic of discussion for Tigers fans as Greene has stayed in the game while Kerry Carpenter, who is hitting .283/.350/.660 with five homers and 15 RBI this month has been pinch-hit for in platoon situations.
While manager A.J. Hinch has expressed concern over his MLB-high 163 strikeouts, he also stated that Greene has been doing just about everything else well, validating his playing time down the stretch over a player like Carpenter.
“When we look at Riley Greene and his impact over the course of the year and you lookup at the scoreboard, if we didn’t list the strikeouts, you’d be like, ‘Man, this guy is having an incredible season.’” Hinch said in an interview on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit on Aug. 6. “All-Star, big production in the middle of the order – and then the strikeouts creep up. I didn’t really see it coming to this extent.”
While Greene’s strikeout rate has spiked from 26.7% last year to a league-high 31.8% this year, he’s still been able to play well defensively, logging two outs above average according to Baseball Savant. Maybe the answer is changing up the routine, as Greene did when he took batting practice on the field for the first time over two years earlier this month. Or maybe it’s as simple as a day off to collect himself and get ready for the stretch.
Whatever it is, the Tigers have to find an answer if they want Green to be a big part of their push for a championship.
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