This split-up trio plans to return 'better than ever'

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DETROIT -- Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter entered the season as the Tigers’ version of the Three Musketeers. They were arguably the most familiar faces of the franchise with Miguel Cabrera having retired. They were definitely the key cogs of a younger Detroit lineup.

Two months later, Greene stands more like a Lone Ranger than a musketeer. With Torkelson now in Triple-A Toledo to work on his swing in hopes of turning around a nightmarish start to his season, and Carpenter on the injured list to rehab a stress fracture in his lower back with no timetable for his return, Greene is the last one standing in a Tigers lineup that currently features three rookies in regular roles.

“Carp’s going to be back, and Tork’s going to be back,” Greene said, “and we’re going to be better than ever.”

Greene said he reached out to Torkelson after the move and said he’s there if Torkelson needs him. They’ve been close friends since they were teammates during Summer Camp in 2020, and later at the alternate training site in Toledo. It’s rare to see one without the other, which makes this stretch more of an adjustment on and off the field.

Without Torkelson’s production, Greene is now the focal point of the Tigers' offense more than ever. Torkelson’s shifts down the lineup already put that trend in motion. That’s a lot of pressure on Greene -- if he lets it be.

Greene’s performance on the Tigers’ just-completed road trip suggests he’s up for whatever role the team needs him to fill. He went 9-for-27 with two doubles, two homers, four RBIs and five runs scored over the seven-game stretch. He started in center for five of the seven games after not starting there since Aug. 20. He raised his OPS 32 points to .796, his same rate as last year and good for a 124 OPS+ this year (in other words, 24 percent better than the ballpark-adjusted Major League average for this season).

After a May swoon that undercut the momentum he had built through a .911 OPS in March and April, Greene has started off June more like his early form. He’ll need to keep it up through a difficult slate of series for the Tigers to get back into the AL Central race by midseason.

Manager A.J. Hinch has made an effort to watch Greene’s workload this season with semi-regular starts at designated hitter. The way the Tigers' lineup now looks, with Justyn-Henry Malloy at DH, that might no longer be feasible. For that matter, keeping him in the outfield corners could be a challenge with Malloy playing some there. The more Greene can handle the physical demands of center, the more flexibility Hinch has with his lineup.

As it stands, Greene’s 1.9 bWAR trails only Tarik Skubal on the team. While the Tigers would appear likely to get at least Skubal and possibly another starting pitcher on the American League All-Star roster, Greene is easily Detroit’s best hope among the position players on the fan ballot that was released earlier this week.

Cracking the AL’s dynamic outfield trio of Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Kyle Tucker could be daunting. But Greene ranks sixth among AL outfielders in offensive WAR according to Fangraphs, and eighth in both weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) and weighted Runs Created plus (wRC+).