Most importantly, Greene's making a statement to the Tigers brass, led by general manager Al Avila.
"He’s done very well," Avila told the Karsch and Anderson Show Thursday. "The best thing about him, just like a lot of our young guys, he looks like he belongs. He’s not scared out there. He’s in there taking good whacks."
When summoned to big-league camp, the 19-year-old has hardly looked his age. He's reached base 12 times in 18 plate appearances, including six walks and two home runs. No, Greene isn't going to make the Tigers out of spring training. He isn't going to make the Tigers this year.
But if he keeps hitting like this, he'll certainly advance his timeline. And maybe he'll be in Detroit sooner than we thought.
"Performance is going to dictate everything obviously,"Avila said. "One of the things we’re taking advantage of this spring in watching him with Major League players is that the way he’s handling it -- and I’m not going to predict anything or make any decisions today -- instead of starting him in West Michigan, maybe we start him here in Lakeland, which is the advanced-A league. That puts him one step from Double-A. That’s one thought process, just based on watching him here in spring training."
It goes beyond his performance at the plate. Greene's also earned high marks for his play in the outfield.
"He takes great pride in that," Avila said. "He heard the rumblings before the draft that he’s not going to be a plus defender, that he can’t play center field. He’s heard all that, so what does he do? He works even harder at it. Works at his body, works at his technique. We think he’s an above-average defender, for sure."
Greene, the fifth overall pick in last year's draft, finished the 2019 season with Class-A West Michigan. He struggled there after a scorching start in rookie ball and low-A, but that clearly hasn't carried over to the spring. To finish the 2020 season with Double-A Erie would constitute a major step forward.
As for thoughts of a call-up to the big leagues, everyone take a deep breath. Greene isn't becoming the next Juan Soto, who debuted with the Nationals at age 19, because he doesn't have the same experience. Soto spent parts of three seasons in the minors before making it to the majors. Late in 2021 is likely the earliest we'll see Greene in Detroit.
"He hit a home run (on Tuesday) that was just an absolute bomb," said Avila. "If you see him playing at the Major League level here, he’s been pretty exciting.
According to Avila, the 6'1 Clemens put on 20 pounds of muscle this offseason.
"Last we were looking at him saying he looks a little bit weak or skinny. Well, you see him now, he’s transforming into a man," said Avila. "And we drafted him because we thought he was going to hit. His defense was the rusty part. Well, if you watch him now play defense, just like Riley Greene, he’s really worked hard at improving his game. It’s a two-way player that we think we have."