The Riley Greene Milestone that Should Make Tigers Fans Smile

The Detroit Tigers left New York on Wednesday with a series sweep of the Yankees, their first sweep in the Bronx since 2008.

At this point the Tigers need all the help they can get to climb back into a position where they can challenge for the playoffs for a third straight year — and avoid having to trade pitcher Tarik Skubal and alter the trajectory of the franchise.

Riley Greene went 0-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored in the game, which went extra innings and saw the Tigers explode for four runs in the 11th inning. But on Tuesday he managed to do something that only two other Tigers — including a Hall of Famer — have done before the age of 26.

Riley Greene’s Big Feat

IS HAVING TWO HOME RUNS BY THE THIRD INNING A GOOD THING? pic.twitter.com/Xc4wKPQU6q
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) June 30, 2026

Greene hit a home run that was part of a first-inning barrage that buried Yankees starter Cam Schlittler, who has been excellent this season. He hit another home run in the third inning. It helped push his season totals to 11 home runs and 38 RBI. But it did something more.

Per Tigers PR on X (formerly Twitter), the team’s official account, Greene became the third player in franchise history to surpass 85 homers, 300 runs, and 300 RBI before turning 26 years old.

One is Travis Fryman. The other is franchise legend Al Kaline.

Fryman broke in with the Tigers in 1990 when he was 21 years old. He was a first-round pick in 1897 out of Tate High School in Cantonment, Fla. In his rookie season he finished sixth in AL rookie of the year voting and spent the first eight years of his 13-year career with the Tigers. The other five were in Cleveland. He was a five-time All-Star, a Silver Slugger and finished his career with 223 home runs and 1,022 RBI. In Detroit he hit 149 home runs and drove in 679 runs.

Kaline has his number retired by the Tigers and is in the Baseball Hall of Fame, widely regarded as one of baseball’s best outfielders. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native started his career in 1953 before the draft and because he was signed to a $15,000 bonus, he went straight from high school to the Majors and started his career when he was 18. He never left.

He played all 22 years with the Tigers, hitting 399 home runs and driving in 1,582 runs. While he was never an AL MVP, he was named an 18-time AL All-Star, a 10-time AL Gold Glove winner and won a batting title. He also won a World Series ring in 1968.

Greene, who was a first-round pick out of high school in 2019, has a long way to go to catch either player. He’s hit 87 home runs, scored 306 runs and drive in 301 runs, but the Tigers have him under team control for two more seasons.

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