LAKELAND, FL — In the last 24 months, Detroit Tigers’ outfielder Riley Greene has earned two straight All-Star appearances and a Silver Slugger award. Despite his Major League success, the 25-year-old still isn’t fully satisfied and is looking at several different ways to improve his game.
“Spring training is going great,” Greene told Latino Sports earlier this week at Tigers camp in Lakeland, Florida.
“You know, all the boys are here having a good time, vibes are high and just really just building off last year—keeping momentum and just having fun.”
From Oviedo, Florida, Greene, of Puerto Rican heritage through his maternal grandparents, had some historic moments for Detroit and one of them was just a few months ago, becoming the Tigers’ first left-handed hitter to have 100 RBIs in a season before the month of September.
Last year for Greene’s 2025 campaign, he recorded 36 home runs and an OPS of .806, each a team-high, in 600 at-bats. The only drawback to his individual game is strikeouts, which he led the American League in with 201.
“You know, just mentally with with my approach,” Greene said of what he’s trying to improve on. “Just trying to have a good approach up there and stick to it.”
His manager A.J. Hinch also weighed in on Greene’s progress as a player:
“How do you have a three-peat of All-Star seasons? He (Greene) just had one of the most remarkable seasons in Tigers history, yet there’s always room for improvement. So he’s very aware of the things that he’s going to try to do to do better. That’s easier said than done. Just hey, we want more contact and the at-bat quality to improve of course.”
Detroit’s All-Star outfielder Riley Greene is looking to improve his game in 2026 by putting up more quality at-bats to lower his strikeout rate – Image Credit: MLB
On a WBC note, Greene was courted by Team Puerto Rico to play in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, but he turned it down due to wanting to focus on keeping his health in order.
“I’m just here focusing on being healthy and you know, getting ready for the season.”
As he gets ready for Opening Day, Greene has enjoyed back-to-back postseason appearances, but wants to get the bad taste out of his mouth of early postseason exits such as last season in the ALDS, losing to the Seattle Mariners.
“It’s super fun,” said Greene of the postseason. “Once you get there once, you wanna go back every year. So, it’s awesome, and our plan is to go back again and get further this time.”
MLB History in Anaheim
Back on May 2nd of 2025, while the Tigers visited the Angels in Anaheim, Greene became the first player in MLB history to hit two home runs in the ninth inning of a game.
“Oh, that was awesome,” Greene said when asked about the moment. “I didn’t really realize what was going on until I came up the second time…
And I’m like, oh, yeah. I’m hitting again, and then I hit another home or so. That was pretty cool to do.”
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