Tigers Star Riley Greene's Slump Puts Him in Contention For Horrible MLB History
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The Detroit Tigers just have not been the same team over the last month or so that they were for the majority of the first half of the season.
A divisional lead that was once double digits has shrunk to six games, the pitching staff continues to be in shambles, and even the team's best hitters are struggling to hit with any sort of consistency.
Perhaps the biggest example of that final issue is the team's franchise player in left fielder Riley Greene. The 24-year-old who went to his second straight All-Star game this year has been prone to slumps before, however his current level of struggle has put him in a new category.
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How Bad Has Greene Been For Detroit as of Late?
Over the last 30 days (22 games) for Greene, he is slashing .191/.198/.371. By far the most concerning part of this current stretch though is the strikeout numbers, racking up 35 of them in this period.
With three more K's in Wednesday's loss against the openly rebuilding Minnesota Twins to drop yet another series, Greene now has a Major League leading 153 on the season.
Things would have to continue going horribly, but Greene has a legitimate chance to set the MLB record for most strikeouts in a season.
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The record, set by Mark Reynolds in 2009 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, sits at 223, placing Greene just 70 shy of the mark with 46 games to go.
If he were to play the rest of the season, Greene would just need to average less than a strikeout and a half per game in order to break the record, a pace he is very much on as of late and fairly close to on the season as a whole.
The overall numbers for the year are still impressive with a slash line of .269/.315/.507, not to mention his 26 home runs and 84 RBI.
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Greene is still a star who excels as a power hitter and on defense, without a doubt a building block of the young core the Tigers hope to keep together for the next decade.
He simply must get the strikeouts under control though, both for the sake of the team as well as his own personal standing within discussions of the best young outfielders in baseball.
This is a player in Greene who has every tool in the box, however his one fatal flaw could keep him from entering the true upper echelon of the game's elite if he cannot settle things down when it comes to battles at the plate.
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Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.