SCOTTSDALE, AZ – Riley Greene cares about the strikeouts.
The 25-year-old is a two-time All-Star outfielder who wants to take his performance to the next level with the Detroit Tigers in the 2026 season – maybe a .300 batting average and maybe 50 home runs, but definitely fewer strikeouts. He is coming off a polarizing season, setting a personal record with 36 home runs and a franchise record with 201 strikeouts.
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Greene has always had the potential to be an American League MVP candidate.
Getting there is up to him.
“There’s a lot left in the tank,” said Greene, whom the Tigers drafted No. 5 overall in 2019. “I feel like it was a good year last year, but it could be better. It could be way better. There are things that I’ve worked on to hopefully make that happen. It’s exciting – and it’s frustrating, too. As a player, you’re like, ‘I can do better.'”
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Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene on picture day during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026.
He doesn’t need to overhaul his steep swing.
He just needs to swing at better pitches and make more contact.
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It starts with his approach.
Not a general approach based on his strengths and weaknesses as a hitter – where he does damage and how pitchers attack him – but a situational approach based on what’s happening in the game.
“A lot of the moments and plays that I left out there were because, mentally, I wasn’t really focused on the situation,” Greene said.
He has been thinking through different game scenarios all offseason and into spring training.
Runner on second base with one out.
Last year, he tried to launch a home run every time.
This year, he wants to focus on smacking a single to drive in the runner.
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“Your body takes over, and you want to hit that big homer instead of choking up and getting a base hit here to score a run,” Greene said. “I’m well aware of that now. I had a lot of conversations about the situations and the moments and slowing the game down – and not letting the game speed up on you. Mentally, I really want to focus on that. I want to take what the game gives me.”
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It didn’t take 200 strikeouts for Greene to acknowledge he had a problem, but it took time to fully understand it.
In 2025, Greene experienced one of the worst stretches of his four-year MLB career with a .213 batting average and 31.3% strikeout rate in his final 72 games, spanning 300 plate appearances. He called his personal hitting coach, Jered Goodwin, at one point to discuss the situation, possibly after one of his many multi-strikeout games.
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“What’s going on?” Goodwin asked.
“I feel like I can hit everything for a home run,” Greene answered.
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Early in the offseason, Greene connected the dots as he evaluated his second All-Star performance: When he stepped to the plate, it seemed like he was swinging at every pitch, and it looked like he was trying to hit a home run on every swing, which led to the personal record for home runs but also the franchise record for strikeouts.
Greene came to that realization during an offseason day with Goodwin and fellow MLB players at a sports bar in Oviedo, Florida, as the group watched football and discussed the previous season.
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What he learned about his situational approach became the centerpiece of his plan for 2026.
“We worked on that, just the mental side of things,” Greene said. “Picking and choosing your spots. If you have two strikes and a runner on second, maybe try not to hit a homer 5,000 feet. Taking a step back, letting the game slow down and recognizing the situations. There are times where you can take your shot, and there are times where you choke up and do some work in the box.”
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It’s the next step in building consistency.
Greene stayed healthy for the first time last season, following stints on the injured list in each of his first three seasons. In doing so, he established routines – both in the offseason and during the season – to give himself a chance to stay healthy again.
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“I had a full season of being healthy, and now I know I can do it,” Greene said. “I know the routine and the training room and all the stuff. Same thing with hitting and playing the outfield.”
A healthy Greene made a few subtle mechanical changes to his swing, though his primary focus was refining his approach.
He traded “feel-good days” in batting practice – easy fastballs down the middle that he would flick for home runs – for competitive reps designed to work on what he struggled with during games. He used a pitching machine to simulate high velocity, sharp breaking balls and disciplined takes.
Manager A.J. Hinch isn’t worried about Greene.
Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene walks out of batting cage at practice during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026.
“I hope it’s enough to get to his third All-Star Game,” Hinch said, when asked about Greene’s offseason adjustments. “Everybody is circling the strikeouts and the swing-and-miss. I just don’t want the good that he does to get overlooked. He has been an incredible offensive player – with room for improvement. You can psychologically really mess a guy up if you’re not careful by obsessing over something that is maybe imperfect in his game. We’re choosing to continually nudge him for improvement in those areas, but I wouldn’t overhaul anything if I’m coming off two pretty successful seasons.”
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The thing is, Greene wants to become a complete hitter.
And he knows exactly what that requires.
It’s fewer strikeouts.
“For everyone, it’s like, we can hit .300, and we can hit 50 home runs,” Greene said, “but in reality, I don’t want to go into numbers because I don’t know what that number is, but I do feel like there’s a lot more left. I need to cut down on strikeouts, for sure.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers’ Riley Greene aims to cut strikeouts in 2026 season