Tigers see correctable flaw in Greene's mechanics

CHICAGO -- Tigers manager Brad Ausmus and pitching coach Jeff Jones spent part of their Wednesday watching video of Shane Greene's loss Tuesday night. Their verdict was similar to Tuesday: Good pitches, not particularly well commanded.

"His pitches aren't bad at all," Ausmus said. "They're just a little bit off of where he wants them to be. He's just in a little bit of a funk that I think is correctable."

Part of that, Ausmus said, seems to be mechanical. Ausmus said Tuesday night that Greene can sometimes get too quick in his delivery to the plate. The manager saw that in the outing.

"He just starts moving to the plate and his arms ends up being behind him," Ausmus said. "That's really all it is. Like I mentioned last night, he gets a little quick sometimes. If somehow we can slow him, keep his weight over his back side, I think it'll fix itself."

The sinkerballer's damage Tuesday came mostly on the ground. Greene gave up as many ground-ball hits (four) as he recorded groundouts. He didn't hang many pitches over the plate, which was good for the bottom line. But he also threw precious few first-pitch strikes and not enough strikes when he needed them in other counts.

Greene will get a chance to try to fix it this weekend, albeit on national television. He's on turn to start Sunday night against the Royals, whom he missed during last weekend's four-game series in Kansas City.