Milwaukee – Riley Greene was prowling around the clubhouse before the game Tuesday like a caged animal. He wasn’t quite sure what to do.
“I’m ready to go,” he said.
All revved up, but with nowhere to go. For the first time this season, Riley Greene was not in the Tigers’ starting lineup. The Brewers were starting left-hander Eric Lauer, who has limited left-handed hitters to one hit in 13 at-bats this season.
Not a good matchup for the lefty-swinging Greene who has been trying to slug his way out of a 14-game slump.
“I think he needed today,” manager AJ Hinch said. “He’s started trying to do a little too much. That’s a good sign to me as a manager that the beginning part of this game might be good for him to watch.”
After a productive spring, Greene was hitting .348 on April 5. In the 14 games since then, his average has plummeted to .224 and entering play Tuesday, he was leading the American League with 33 strikeouts.
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“That is not like me,” Greene said of the punch-outs. “But there’s also been four or five balls I hit 100 mph (exit velocity) right at people. Last night I hit a line drive (103 mph) off the lefty sinker, right at someone. It is what it is.
“If some of those fall, I’m super happy and I would be in a better spot than I am now.”
Greene has hit some balls on the screws. On this road trip alone, he’s hit four balls with exit velocities over 100, none resulting in hits. He’s also worked some long at-bats and drawn four walks. But he’s also chased pitches, especially pitches down and away, out of the zone more than normal and he’s missed pitches in the center of the plate more than normal.
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The result is an 11-for-58 stretch (.190) with 24 strikeouts.
“It just comes down to not missing mistakes,” Greene said. “That’s what happens. You miss that mistake and you’re not going to get another pitch that you really want to drive. In spring training I wasn’t missing anything. We get here and I start missing them. And then you have to grind back into the count.
“I haven’t been having bad at-bats. I’ve been grinding in the box. I’ve walked a few times. I just comes down to missing those pitches.”
Greene drew a walk in the Tigers’ 4-2 win here Monday. He also put the ball in play with a runner on third and one out in the fifth inning, hitting a hard, high-chopper at the second baseman that scored Eric Haase with a vital tack on run.
“I was in a good spot yesterday,” Greene said. “I felt super good in the box. I was spitting on pitches (taking) left and right. I just didn’t get the outcome I wanted. That’s going to happen. I am going to come out there with full confidence and be ready to go.”
During this rough stretch Greene has also shown some anxiousness at the plate, swinging at a lot of first pitches, hunting fastballs to the point where he’s chasing them out of the zone.
“He swings a lot,” Hinch said. “He likes to swing but he’s missing some balls in the zone he normally hits. Consequently, that leads to outs. He won’t always do that. He’s too good a hitter, too fluid of an athlete to not make adjustments. He’s going to do that.
“He’s a young kid, though. We’ve got to ride these waves of not being perfect and him not being his best all the time…We trust him. We trust him to do the work behind the scenes to get himself in a better position in the box. It’s only a matter of time.”
Greene is still just 22. He has just 510 big-league plate appearances under his belt. It’s easy to forget that because his maturity and poise is so far beyond his years. Even though he was 0-for-4 Monday night and made a mental blunder on the bases, nobody celebrated the win more than Greene.
“My goal is to help the team,” he said. “I don’t care if I struck out. If I walked and scored or I hit a ground ball that scored a run, I helped the team. That’s my goal at the end of the day. I get pissed when I do things and don’t help the team. I’m not pissed at myself, I’m pissed I didn’t help the team in that situation.
“That’s when I get angry.”
Greene will be pacing up and down the dugout in the early part of the game. Hinch has already told him there are situations he’s saving him for later, pinch-hitting opportunities. Even though he wasn’t in the starting lineup, Brewers manager Craig Counsell will be very aware of him – just like Hinch was aware of Christian Yelich’s and Rowdy Tellez’s presence off the bench on Monday.
Greene will be ready.
“I’m going to come off that bench hot,” he said.
Around the horn
… Left-hander Tarik Skubal is about to take a big step in his recovery from flexor tendon surgery. He’s been playing catch and doing long toss six times a week. Now he’s going to start throwing off the mound. The Tigers said Skubal is scheduled to throw his first bullpen later this week.
… Right-hander Matt Manning (right foot fracture) will resume his throwing program on Wednesday.
… Right-hander Beau Brieske (right ulnar nerve entrapment) continues to throw to hitters in live batting practice sessions in Lakeland. His fastball velocity is up to 93-94 mph.
… The Tigers are now listing the injury to right-hander Trey Wingenter as right biceps tendinitis. Initially the club reported it as shoulder tendinitis. They are essentially the same thing but the inflammation was centered more in the bicep. He still hasn’t been cleared to throw.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky
Tigers at Brewers
First pitch: 1:40 p.m., Wednesday, American Family Field, Milwaukee
TV/radio: BSD/97.1
Scouting report
RHP Freddy Peralta (2-2, 3.97), Brewers: He’s battled shoulder issues for the past couple of years, but his fastball is still a potent weapon. With elite ride and 6.9-feet of extension, the 94-95 mph gets on hitters quick (.190 opponent average, 11 strikeouts this season). His secondary pitches, slider and changeup especially, have been spotty for him. He’s allowed nine runs in 10.2 innings over his last two starts.
RHP Michael Lorenzen (0-0, 6.00), Tigers: He’s coming off a beauty in Baltimore, blanking the Orioles on three hits over five innings. His four-seam hit 98 mph and sat at 95.6 mph. Against a lineup stacked with five left-handed bats, he effectively used his changeup and cutter, as well. He was efficient in the zone, too, going to just two three-ball counts.