Is Riley Greene franchise player for Detroit Tigers?
The “Days of Roar” podcast walks through the merits of Riley Greene being deemed a franchise player — and if it’s time for a contract extension.
Next month’s MLB All-State Game in Atlanta might have a decidedly Motor City feel if the voting trends continue.
If All-Star Game voting ended now, the Detroit Tigers would have three players starting July 15 for the American League team: Gleyber Torres at second base, Riley Greene in left field and Javier Báez in center field (not including Tarik Skubal, who is expected to be picked as the starting pitcher by AL manager Aaron Boone).
But voting hasn’t ended.
It has only transitioned from Phase 1 to Phase 2, with Báez, Greene and Torres making the cut for the Tigers.
There are two parts of fan voting: Phase 1 ran from June 4-26 and included all MLB players, with fans voting for the players they want to start at each position and the top two vote-getters at each position (and the top six in the outfield) advancing. Phase 2, meanwhile, runs from June 30-July 2; the vote totals are reset and fans vote online on the smaller pool of players to determine the starters at each position.
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MLB announced the results of Phase 1 on Thursday, June 26.
New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge received the most Phase 1 votes (4,012,983) among all AL players, giving him an automatic starting spot in the All-Star Game, which takes place at Truist Park in Atlanta. Judge’s automatic nod also shrinks the outfield finalist pool a bit — only the top four advance for the final two spots in the AL. In the NL, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani received the most votes, getting that league’s automatic spot.
Torres faces Baltimore’s Jackson Holliday — looking for his first All-Star nod — in the final vote at second base, with the second-year Oriole beating out Houston’s Jose Altuve (an All-Star last year) by approximately 120,000 votes.
Greene, an All-Star for the first time last season, finished second in this year’s Phase 1 outfield vote, though his 2,332,378 votes were fourth-most among all AL players. In third place was Báez, ahead of the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout and the Cleveland Guardians’ Steven Kwan (who started for the AL last season).
Fans can vote for the remaining position players — including Torres, Greene and Báez — in Phase 2 to determine the AL starters at MLB.com through noon on July 2, with starters to be announced that night. Meanwhile, pitchers and reserve selections are determined by player vote and the commissioner’s office. The full All-Star Game rosters will be announced July 6.
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In 2025, the trio of Torres, Greene and Báez has guided the Tigers to MLB’s best record (51-31).
Torres, 28, is hitting .281 with eight home runs (including one Thursday), 41 walks and 36 strikeouts in 69 games, with an .816 OPS; Greene, 24, is hitting .295 with 17 homers, 24 walks and 102 strikeouts in 80 games, with an .878 OPS; Báez, 32, is hitting .289 with nine homers, nine walks and 53 strikeouts in 69 games, with a .794 OPS.
All three players have been All-Stars in the past: Torres in 2018 and 2019 with the New York Yankees, Greene in 2024 with the Tigers and Báez in 2018 and 2019 with the Chicago Cubs.
If the trio does make the Midsummer Classic, they could reunite with a former teammate. Ex-Tigers catcher Carson Kelly, who was traded to Texas at last year’s deadline and then signed a free-agent deal with the Chicago Cubs, is a finalist in the NL, battling the Dodgers’ Will Smith for a starting spot.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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