Will rookie Riley Greene turn the tide back in Detroit Tigers favor?

Top prospect Riley Greene had just been activated by the Detroit Tigers after his major league debut was derailed due to a foot injury at the start of the season.

Greene was supposed to be a part of the Tigers' Opening Day lineup but sustained a right foot fracture during Spring Training. He made his major league debut against the Texas Rangers on Saturday.

The fifth overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft impressed early on as he hit a single in his first major league at-bat. He went 2-for-3 with two runs and two walks in his first game.

"Riley Greene notches a hit on the second Major League pitch he sees." - @ MLB Pipeline

The crowd at Comerica Park seemed energized by the prospect's arrival. Their team, in turn, gifted them with a 14-7 shellacking of the Rangers. This stopped the six-game skid for the Detroit Tigers.

The biggest question now is whether the Tigers can use Greene's abilities to turn things around. Along with the Oakland Athletics, the Tigers have been one of the bottom-dwelling teams in terms of batting.

They have an OPS of .601, are batting just .224, and have only scored the league's worst 34 homers and 175 RBI. An injection of young blood might just be the boost that they need.

Greene batted .301/.387/.534 with 24 homers, 84 RBI, 16 stolen bases, 25 doubles, and eight triples during his time between the Eerie Seawolves and Toledo Mud Hens in Double-A and Triple-A, respectively.

If he can provide inspiration and light up this team, and veterans like Javier Baez step up their game, Detroit might just have a chance to, at least, get a wildcard spot in the wide-open American League Central.

Riley Greene's career

Riley Greene started his baseball career in his native Florida. The young outfielder started for Paul J. Hagerty High School. He played in the U-18 Pan-American Championships for Team USA as well. In 2019 while playing in his last high school year, he batted .422 with eight homers and 27 RBI.

Greene initially committed to playing college ball at the University of Florida, but he was drafted by the Tigers in 2019 and that made him forego collegiate play. He started at the GCL Tigers and was then promoted to the Class A-Short Connecticut Tigers.

He inched closer to his major league career when he was promoted to the West Michigan Whitecaps in Class A, wherein he batted .271 for the three aforementioned clubs.

In 2021, he was assigned to the Eerie SeaWolves and was then promoted to the Toledo Mud Hens in August. He was named in the Top 100 list of Baseball America's best prospects for 2022, placing in fourth.

In June 18, 2022, he was called up by to the active roster of the Detroit Tigers due to Austin Meadows being placed in the COVID-19 list.