Riley Greene's ascent through the minors continues.
The Tigers promoted the fifth overall pick in the 2019 draft to the Class-A West Michigan Whitecaps Thursday after a successful stint with the short-season Class-A Tigers.
The Tigers today announced that OF Riley Greene has been promoted to Single A West Michigan.The fifth overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft ranks as the @tigers No. 3 prospect, and No. 49 in all of @MiLB. pic.twitter.com/S8Z8WPJR97
— Detroit Tigers Player Development (@RoadtoDetroit) August 8, 2019In 24 games for Connecticut, Greene, a smooth-swinging lefty, hit .295 with a .766 OPS. He had one homer and seven RBI. Before that, he tore the cover off the ball in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League, posting a .351 average and a 1.036 OPS over nine games.
Greene, 18, has played exclusively in center field, where the Tigers plan to give him a shot long term. He figures to stay there with West Michigan.
"He's going to play center field for us. That's the way we see it," Detroit's director of amateur scouting Scott Pleis said after the draft. "Riley alluded to it earlier, that's what he wants to do and he's constantly working to make that happen. So that's where he'll be, a center fielder."
Greene should make his Whitecaps debut either Thursday or Friday at home against Bowling Green.
Per MLB Pipeline's latest prospect rankings, Greene ranks third in the Tigers organization and 49th overall. Detroit's farm system, as a whole, ranks sixth.
Casey Mize and Matt Manning rank Nos. 1 and 2 for the Tigers, respectively.
