Riley Greene sits following 84 consecutive starts

Greene also drew a walk, so it was a four-reach day for the 25-year-old talent. His homer was his 13th of the season; a two-run blast off Kumar Rocker. He came a double short of the cycle, and in the process he saw his slash improve to .292/.380/.474. He hasn’t shown as much power as he did in 2025, but he’s been a more well-rounded player in 2026. It’s a fair trade-off.

Greene has 12 homers in 88 games, putting him just one-third of his way to his 2025 total of 36, but with his OBP having jumped from .313 to .375, his OPS is up some anyway and he’s on track to have a more valuable season than he did last year. We’ll find out soon whether that gets him a third straight All-Star appearance or not.

Greene spearheaded Detroit’s unexpected offensive explosion against Yankees rising ace Cam Schlittler by taking him deep in the first and third innings for his first multi-homer performance of the year. It hardly feels like a coincidence that Greene erupted with an epic power display after receiving his first day off of the entire season during Monday’s series opener. The 25-year-old middle-of-the-order force is slashing .288/.378/.450 with 43 runs scored, 11 homers, 37 RBI and one steal through 85 games.

Greene’s home run was his ninth of the year. He hit a solo shot off Gerritt Cole in the fifth inning. Greene is a career .268 hitter who hit .258 in 2025, but is hitting .292 this year. While his power production has decreased this year, his .385 OBP would be a career-best by over 30 points and his .830 OPS would also be a career-high.

Vierling tagged White Sox’ opener Brandon Eisert for a 408-foot (103.6-mph EV) two-run shot in the opening inning that gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead. That would be his only hit in the contest. It has been a rough season overall for the 29-year-old outfielder, slashing .201/.260/.348 with five homers and 25 RBI.

Greene’s home run was his sixth of the year. He hit a solo shot off Ian Seymour in the seventh inning. Greene is still hitting .308, though much of that is due to his .434 BABIP. Since May 14, he’s hitting .271 over his last 19 games. Greene has a career .354 BABIP, so his average should continue to come down. The likely trade-off will be that Greene falls back on his power hitting after hitting 36 home runs last season.

Greene kicked off the scoring with a two-run double down the right-field line in the opening frame before clobbering a gargantuan 428-foot moonshot to right-center field a couple innings later. It was his fifth long ball of the season. The 25-year-old fantasy standout isn’t hitting for a ton of over-the-fence pop, but he’s slashing a robust .309/.399/.450 across 253 plate appearances through 61 games.

Injuries have forced the Tigers to use Vierling a lot more than anticipated, and it’s not going well. Normally a platoon guy against lefties, he’s currently starting against righties about two-thirds of the time, even though he’s hitting just .183/.228/.323 against them. If Max Clark were thriving in Triple-A, the Tigers probably would have called him up by now. As is, they’re really lacking in alternatives.

Greene started the scoring in the first inning as he blasted an RBI double that was a foot away from being a home run. The 25-year-old outfielder made adjustments to his approach this offseason and his average and walk percentage have increased while his power has decreased. Greene’s strikeout percentage of 30 percent last year is only slightly down at 27 percent this year, but his walk percentage has nearly doubled from seven percent last year to 13.6 percent this year. His average is up to .327 after hitting .258 last year, though his ISO has slipped from .235 to .158. Greene’s .450 BABIP this year is the highest among qualified batters and over 100 points higher than his career .353 BABIP. His average is unsustainable unless he significantly cuts into his strikeout rate, but Greene has patience and power in his profile to fall back on.

Greene came through with a two-run knock in the first inning to give the Tigers an early lead. Those stood as their only two runs in an extra inning loss against the Mets. Oddly enough, Greene has foregone power this season in favor of more contact with just four home runs, but a .325 batting average so far this season. His strikeout rate remains relatively high, so expect that average to dip while the home runs likely follow as the weather warms up in Detroit.