Riley Greene's silky left-handed swing is worth millions. So when he recently got a set of right-handed golf clubs from his grandmother, his dad -- who doubles as his offseason hitting coach -- was more than okay with a mistake worth hundreds.
"She forgot I was left-handed. She told my dad and he was like, 'No, that’s perfect, he does not need to be swinging a golf club left-handed,'" Greene said Wednesday. "So I just tried right-handed and it works for me."
Of course it does. Everything seems to work for Riley Greene, the shiny 20-year-old prospect on the path to Detroit. Critics said he wasn't cut out to play center field when the Tigers drafted him fifth overall in 2019. He showed up to Comerica Park last summer and started flashing leather on SportsCenter.
"We knew he had things to work on defensively," Ron Gardenhire said at the time, "and now he looks like a Gold Glover."
"I definitely think I was a better defender than what people gave me credit for," said Greene.
Even Al Avila was surprised by Greene last summer. He just looked bigger than Avila remembered, much bigger than the 18-year-old kid the Tigers drafted out of high school. At 6'3, 220, Greene looked like a man.
"That strength of becoming a Major League player, a man, is coming faster than I even thought," Avila said.
Greene decided to drop some weight this offseason, down to 205. He said he felt "a little heavy" at 220. Now he feels "fast and athletic." He's in big-league camp with the Tigers, looking like a big-league player. If his physical maturation is surprising to those around him, it isn't to Greene.
"Nothing’s really been surprising just because of how hard I’ve been working," he said.
On an average day this offseason, Greene said he would "wake up and go straight to the gym, work out hard for two hours, come home, eat, then go back to a different gym and work with a personal trainer."
"I’ve been taking the offseason very seriously," he added, as if that wasn't already clear.
But not too seriously. Between lifts, Greene found time to run his own fishing charter with the boat he bought last summer, courtesy of that million-dollar swing.
"I was always messing with my buddies, like, 'Hey man, you wanna go out? Riley Greene Fishing Charters, let's go," Greene said. "I put my cousin’s boyfriend on a 50-inch Redfish, 60 pounds."
Of course he did. Everything is bigger in the world of Riley Greene. Everything but his swing, which he's shortened in the pros. He ditched the leg kick he used in high school, back when he was "swinging for the fences every time," and altered his approach from trying to pull the ball to staying up the middle.
"My mindset has changed a lot," Greene said. "Really not trying to hit home runs at all. Just trusting my power, trusting my swing and trying to hit the ball as hard as I can wherever it’s pitched."
Greene made this adjustment last summer in Toledo at the Tigers' alternate training site. It could have been a lost season of development for one of the club's most important players. Greene called it "a win for my development." He said "the alternate site was the best thing for me."
Of course it was. And maybe the best thing for the Tigers is Riley Greene. And maybe we're close to finding out. If he starts 2021 with Double-A Erie, as Avila suggested this offseason, there's a chance he could make his way to Detroit by the end of the season.
We'd almost be surprised.