Detroit Tigers’ Scott Harris on bullpen market at trade deadline
Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris talks July 31, 2025, about his evaluation of the bullpen market at the trade deadline.
Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene almost never takes batting practice on the field.
He prefers hitting in the indoor batting cage.
“I haven’t hit on the field in two years,” Greene said July 15 before the MLB All-Star Game at Truist Park in Atlanta, part of his explanation for declining offers to participate in the Home Run Derby.
Exactly 24 days later, Greene — who has been slumping for more than a month — took the field for batting practice Friday, Aug. 8, before the opener of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park.
“The great outdoors were incredible,” Greene said, sitting front of his locker approximately three hours ahead of Friday’s game. “I just wanted to have some fun.”
Greene stepped to the plate for batting practice with teammates Dillon Dingler and Spencer Torkelson. Hitting coach Michael Brdar accompanied them during the session.
He had a reason for the on-field batting practice.
“I just wanted to see some ball flight,” Greene said. “I just wanted to see the ball go to where I want it to go.”
Greene entered Friday hitting .173 (19-for-110) with five home runs, four walks and 47 strikeouts in his past 28 games, dating back to Game 2 of a doubleheader July 2 against the Washington Nationals.
As part of that stretch, Greene was hitting .048 (1-for-21) with no walks and nine strikeouts in his past five games.
It’s his worst slump of the 2025 season.
“I love hitting baseballs,” Greene said. “I love seeing the balls go over the fence and go in the gaps and all that stuff. It’s not like I’m trying to swing 100 times to get out of something. I’m just having fun.”
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In 2025, Greene is hitting .266 with a career-high 26 home runs and an .814 OPS in 112 games, but he leads MLB with 153 strikeouts. He ranks below average in these key categories: Strikeout rate (32.7%, first percentile) and walk rate (6%, 22nd percentile).
He is staying positive during this rough stretch.
“It sucks to struggle, but it is what it is,” said Greene, a two-time All-Star in his four-year MLB career. “It’s only a matter of one pitch and one swing, and then the floodgates open.”
For Friday’s game, Greene batted sixth in the lineup against Angels right-hander Kyle Hendricks — doing so for the first time since his MLB debut on June 18, 2022.
Greene typically bats third or fourth.
“For me, with the three left-handed relievers in the bullpen, I got to pay attention to how they’re going to attack,” manager A.J. Hinch said before Friday’s game. “Separating (Kerry Carpenter) and Greeney was something I wanted to take a look at. Combine that with easing off Riley in the middle of the order based on how the last month has gone.”
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Hinch noticed Greene taking batting practice on the field.
The skipper didn’t seem surprised.
“We’ve all seen the last month,” Hinch said. “When you keep trying to do the same thing over and over again, it’s the definition of insanity. For him, he wanted to see something on the field, see the ball carry a little bit and get some directional things done.”
Although Greene is the Tigers’ best position player, he didn’t complain about Hinch’s decision to move him down in the lineup for performance reasons.
The way Greene reacted to the batting order is a reminder that he remains steady as a team-first player, whether he’s slugging or struggling.
“Whatever A.J. wants to do, I trust,” Greene said. “We never question him. Whatever he’s doing, he’s doing it for a reason. It is what it is.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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