Riley Greene had a breakout season for the Detroit Tigers in 2025, and now he will get his chance to showcase his skills in the 2026 World Baseball Classic with Puerto Rico. Greene committed to Puerto Rico on Dec. 9, and it was announced on X via MLB Español. 

La Federación de Béisbol de Puerto Rico anunció que Riley Greene manifestó su intención de ponerse la camisa de los colores de ?? en el World Baseball Classic 2026. pic.twitter.com/WjFe5NxCXR

— MLB Español (@mlbespanol) December 9, 2025

Greene, 25, has always been used to dealing with high expectations since he was picked fifth overall by the Tigers in the 2019 MLB Draft out of the University of Florida. Greene was the best hitter on the Tigersin 2025, leading the team in home runs (36), RBIs (111), and OPS (.806). He was rewarded with a second consecutive All-Star Game appearance and a Silver Slugger Award for his efforts.

Puerto Rico is now getting a massive power bat, and he pencils in as their best outfielder if George Springer winds up not playing in the tournament. Greene is eligible to play for Puerto Rico because of his maternal grandmother. 

“Riley earlier in the year showed interest in participating,” Puerto Rico’s general manager Carlos Beltran told World Baseball Network on Dec. 9. “For years, we have proven that our talent is good talent and there’s no doubt that he can make our team much better.” 

Greene’s first international experience came in 2018 with Team USA’s U-18 team in the Pan American Games, in which they won the gold medal 17-2 against Panama. 

With team USA’s outfield currently consisting of Aaron Judge, Corbin Carroll, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Schwarber, Greene will have a much more important role for Puerto Rico than he would have had on Team USA. 

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch also spoke to the media in Orlando during the MLB Winter Meetings on Dec. 9, and he spoke about his view of Greene’s overall game. 

“How do you have a three-peat of All-Star seasons? He just had one of the most remarkable seasons in Tigers history, yet there’s always room for improvement,” Hinch told World Baseball Network. “So he’s very aware of the things that he’s going to try to do to do better. That’s easier said than done. Just hey, we want more contact and the at-bat quality to improve of course.” 

One weakness for Greene is his high strikeout rate, which was 30.7 percent. He struck out 201 times in 600 at-bats, which was the most in the American League. Despite the strikeout issues, he still put up a solid slash line of .258/.313/.493 last season. 

The historical feat for Greene was becoming the first Tigers lefty to have 100 RBIs before September.  He was also the first player in MLB history to hit two home runs on May 2 against the Los Angeles Angels at Angels Stadium. 

“We haven’t had a full conversation about it. You know, strikeouts or misses. Like it’s very obvious that he wants to take the next step to be(come) an even more elite player. He is spending the winter getting himself ready to play 150-plus games again as he did successfully last year,” Hinch said. 

Greene has played four seasons with the Tigers and has 76 home runs, 264 RBIs, and a slash line of .264/.332/.443 in 1,866 career at-bats. 

 WBN WBC: https://worldbaseball.com/league/wbc/

Photo: Detroit Tigers’ Riley Greene scores as Chicago White Sox catcher Matt Thaiss receives the throw in the fourth inning during a baseball game, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)