DETROIT -- The Tigers’ late-summer charge back into the American League playoff race has come with the benefit of health, but they might have to worry about All-Star left fielder Riley Greene, who exited Tuesday’s series opener against the Guardians after taking a pitch off his lower right leg.
Greene stayed in the game after Tanner Bibee’s 92.1 mph sinker hit him just below his right knee in the second inning. He shooed away manager A.J. Hinch and head athletic trainer Ryne Eubanks, and he even ran to first base to demonstrate he was fine. But after scoring from first on Spencer Torkelson’s double two batters later, Greene headed down the dugout steps and up towards the clubhouse. Ben Malgeri replaced Greene in left for the third inning. The Tigers later announced that he departed with right hamstring tightness.
Greene was plagued by injuries over the first few seasons of his career, from a fractured right foot that delayed his big league debut in 2022, to a stress fracture in his left fibula that sidelined him for just over a month in 2023, to an elbow injury on a diving catch that led to season-ending Tommy John surgery that September. He hasn’t missed extensive time since a right hamstring strain in July 2024, a tribute to an offseason training, nutrition and sleep regimen he put in to keep his body healthy.
Greene’s durability has helped make him a key cog in the Tigers' lineup. Any absence would be a tough spot for a Detroit team that has picked up offensively over the past couple months but is thin in the outfield with injuries to Kerry Carpenter (plantar fasciitis), Matt Vierling (left adductor strain), Wenceel Pérez (left orbital fracture) and Parker Meadows (broken left arm).