How Tigers' Gleyber Torres Is Helping Offset Slump by Riley Greene
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The Detroit Tigers have found themselves in a growing slump after failing to post double-digit wins in July and dealing with two six-game losing streaks recently.
They haven't looked like the ball club they were most of the season and part of that is in direct correlation to outfielder Riley Greene.
Greene was selected to his second straight All-Star Game this season. But he hasn't looked like himself as of late. Second baseman Gleyber Torres is trying to make sure the Tigers hold onto their division lead.
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Gleyber Torres this Season
The 28-year-old Torres is having one of the better seasons of his career since he broke in during the 2018 season with the New York Yankees. Torres has posted a .788 OPS on the year with a slash line of .270/.368/.420 with 13 home runs, 55 RBI, and 57 walks.
In the last month he has led the Tigers in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS. The categories in which he doesn't lead (RBI, home runs, on-base percentage, and total hits) he sits second on the team.
Detroit acquired him at the end of the 2024 season when he entered free agency and the Yankees didn't offer a qualifying offer. He landed with the Tigers on a one-year, $15 million dollar deal.
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Greene's Recent Struggles
Greene is still having a great year despite recent events. His overall slash line is still .268/.314/.502, but a recent downturn in performance has put a bit of a drag on his numbers.
In his first six games of August, Greene was batting .120 at the plate with three hits in 25 plate appearances. He also struck out 10 times and had not drawn a walk. The Tigers are going to need him if they want to win the division, let alone the World Series.
Quick Look at the Tigers
There was a point not so long ago that it looked like Detroit would run away with the American League Central as they had a double digit lead. That has now been cut in half as the Cleveland Guardians have crept up on them since the All-Star break.
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Detroit will finish up its series against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday before a road trip to take on the Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins.
The time for Greene to turn it around is now. In the meantime Torres will keep doing what he has been doing and step up for the offense.
For more Tigers news, head over to Tigers On SI.
Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.