Riley Greene could be back in Detroit this weekend. Hopefully he brings another 5-for-5 with him.
Greene rapped five hits for the Mud Hens on Wednesday in the second game of his rehab assignment and will play the outfield in his third game today, "a big step for him," said A.J. Hinch. The Tigers' starting center fielder missed all of June with a stress reaction in his left leg.
And with the Tigers set to face three right-handed pitchers in their coming series with the Blue Jays, "There’s some conversation about (Greene) being considered for the weekend," Hinch told the Stoney & Jansen Show. Detroit could use its best hitter coming off back-to-back losses to the Athletics as it tries to stay afloat in the AL Central.
"Obviously when you get five hits, his timing, his rhythm, his bat to ball, I watched all the at-bats last night basically to make me feel better that he's on his way," Hinch told the Stoney & Jansen Show. "I liked where his swing was at and some of his timing stuff. He legged out a double in the right center gap and he had to turn the jets on a little bit and slide into second. Little things like that matter when you start thinking about bringing him back."
Greene, 22, was on a tear before going down with his injury. He had raised his his OPS to .805 in his second MLB season and remains the Tigers' leading position player in WAR (1.6). Whether it's this weekend against Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt or after the All-Star break, the Tigers -- and their fans -- will welcome Greene's return.
"We have three righties this weekend, obviously we’d love to see him here. If we don’t, it’s not a failure, but I think he’s going to be back in our lineup hitting second or third here in the coming days or certainly after the break," Hinch said.
Related
Listen live to 97.1 The Ticket via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker