LAKELAND, Fla. — Riley Greene wanted to arrive at Spring Training ready to compete for a job at Comerica Park. So he went back to Hagerty High School, his alma mater, just outside Orlando.
“It does not fly on that field, I can tell you that,” Greene said earlier this week after his first workout at Tigertown. “I don’t care how strong you are. The ball does not fly there.”
Big ballpark jokes aside, there was a purpose to Greene going back to school. He wanted to face live pitches at game speed before heading down Interstate 4 for Lakeland. So when Hagerty had a scrimmage, he hopped into the batter’s box. He didn’t run the bases or play the outfield. He just took some at-bats.
Between that and some sessions against a couple of friends who are pro pitchers, Greene was able to replicate the surge of adrenaline and concentration that comes with game action. By facing kids at his old high school, ironically, he got a taste of the pressure, too.
“I was like, ‘I can’t strike out, because I will not hear the end of it,’” Greene said, laughing.
The pitchers will be of a different caliber whenever Spring Training gets into full swing — they’re already different now in Minor League minicamp — but the pressure might be similar. Greene’s stellar 2021 season between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo not only sent him further up the prospect rankings — he’s currently No. 2 among Tigers prospects and No. 7 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 — it raised anticipation among Tigers fans of what he can do when he makes it to Detroit.
“That was great and all. I had a really good time, played well, but that was last year,” Greene said of his rise in the ranks last season. “This is this year now. I’m going to look back on it, see the things that I did good and just bring them over here.”
More than 60 players are taking part in minicamp, which kicked into full gear this week. Some are just beginning their pro careers and getting used to a daily routine of baseball every day. Others are refining parts of their game before heading off to Minor League stops in April.
For a handful of players, this camp is a head start to compete for a Major League job this season. For Greene and fellow top prospect Spencer Torkelson, it’s the start of a case to compete for a spot in Detroit’s Opening Day lineup.
It’s a reversal from the role Greene has had in big league camp the last few years. He’s generated a highlight reel of plays, from an over-the-fence grab in Summer Camp at Comerica Park in 2020 to scorched line drives in Spring Training last year, but he has always been the kid playing for the future while the veterans competed for jobs now.
That changes this year, even if his mentality stays the same.
“[It] doesn’t really change anything for me,” he said. “I’m going to go out there and play as hard as I can, and everything else will take care of itself. I didn’t really change anything last year. I went out there, played hard, did what I had to do, and I didn’t make the team, whatever. I’m just going to control what I can control, and the rest of the stuff will take care of itself.”
Sure enough, Greene came out aggressive this week. While many hitters use their first pitches of live batting practice to get used to seeing game-speed pitching again, Greene swung at the first three pitches he saw. Ty Madden sent two fastballs by him, followed by a slider.
Madden, the Tigers’ supplemental first-round pick in last year’s MLB Draft out of the University of Texas and current No. 5 prospect, turned 22 years old on Monday. He has yet to pitch in pro ball, and his last game was in last summer’s College World Series. Greene, the Tigers’ top pick in the 2019 Draft, turned 21 last September but has 181 pro games under his belt. It’s a reminder just how far Greene has progressed so quickly.
At the same time, Greene’s approach is arguably a declaration that his time is now.