Who is Riley Greene?

Riley Greene was selected fifth overall by the Tigers in 2019, and now ranks as Detroit's No. 1 prospect and the 2nd best in all of baseball. Here's what you should know about the 21-year-old outfielder.

FAST FACTS
MLB organization: Tigers
Birthdate: Sept. 28, 2000 (Age 22 in 2022)
Primary position: OF
Height/weight: 6-foot-3, 200 lbs.
Bats/throws: Left/left
Hometown: Orlando, FL
School(s): Hagerty (Fla.) HS
Drafted: 5th overall, 2019 (by DET)

He owns the Tigers' second hardest-hit ball ever tracked by Statcast

Greene attended his first Major League Spring Training in 2021 and made quite the impression despite being just 20 years old. In the Tigers' March 22 game against the Blue Jays, he crushed a 115.8 mph line drive for a double. One of the hardest-hit balls from a Tigers batter since Statcast began tracking in 2015, there were only 17 batted balls with exit velocities that exceeded Greene's at the Major League level in 2020. It was also the hardest-hit ball by a Tiger tracked by Statcast until Jonathan Schoop hit a 117.1 mph double on July 10, 2021 against the Twins.

The next year, he hit .429 with three doubles, two triples and two home runs in Grapefruit League play before fracturing his right foot by fouling a pitch off it, delaying his MLB regular-season debut.

He may have made the best catch of 2020 -- in an intrasquad game

While it didn't qualify, had it not taken place in a Summer Camp scrimmage, Greene may very well have had the catch of the year when he robbed C.J. Cron of a home run that cleared the wall on July 13. Even Cron was thrilled, despite being on the losing end of the incredible play.

He was broadly considered the best prep hitter in the 2019 Draft

Greene, taken from Hagerty High School in Oviedo, Fla., made a name for himself with an unbelievable senior year, in which he hit .422 with eight home runs. The performance earned him the title of Florida Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year, an award that has been taken home by a number of legendary big leaguers -- Chipper Jones, Alex Rodriguez, and Gary Sheffield among them.

He gets it from his dad

“It” being both the swing and his love of the game. Alan Greene played college baseball at Florida Tech, and now works as a professional hitting instructor at his own training facility. Riley so often asked his dad to play catch or hit him grounders when he came home from work that Alan had to purchase a set of construction lights for the family’s front yard. The pair worked so hard on Riley’s sweet swing that when his grandmother accidentally purchased the young lefty a set of right-handed golf clubs, Alan had Riley learn to golf right-handed, so as not to compromise his mechanics. (The younger Greene even bowls right-handed to protect his elbow.)

He was on a loaded national team

Like several of his fellow top prospects, Greene played for USA Baseball, and was a member of the 18U National Team that took home a gold medal from the Pan-American Championships. In fact, Greene was one of six members of that national team to later be selected in the first round of the 2019 Draft. The other five? Bobby Witt Jr. (2nd overall by the Royals), CJ Abrams (6th, Padres), Anthony Volpe (30th, Yankees), and Corbin Carroll and Brennan Malone (16th and 33rd, D-backs).

He has a fan in Miguel Cabrera

First rounders are usually treated to a tour of their new team’s ballpark. Some will get a chance to take batting practice alongside their future teammates. But Greene’s first Comerica Park BP session was unlike any other. He took his first hacks in Detroit with Hall of Famers Al Kaline and Jack Morris in attendance, for one (Kaline in particular informed reporters that he liked the then-18-year-old.) When several active Tigers came onto the field to watch Greene, even Miguel Cabrera was impressed by his power, telling Tigers front office staff in attendance to leave him with the big league club. How’s that for a vote of confidence?

He's Hagerty HS royalty

Only seven players, counting Greene, have ever been drafted out of Hagerty. Greene was by far the highest pick at No. 5, but the other two first-rounders are familiar faces now -- Phillies righty Zach Eflin (33rd overall in 2012) and Orioles rookie Ryan Mountcastle (36th in 2015).