Riley Greene has a signature move to his acrobatic outfield catches: The Superman dive.

He’s not trying to be melodramatic about it. If anything, ironically, it’s an acknowledgment that the Tigers outfielder and first-time All-Star is, in fact, human.

The superhero term describes the way he extends his arms out and forward from his body as he propels himself toward the ground rather than up. By doing this, the idea goes, he can minimize the impact of his body hitting the ground as he makes a diving catch, ideally sliding along the ground rather than bouncing off it. It still hurts, he admits, but at least he can get back up.

Sometimes it works, and sometimes he’s mortal. He tried it last September when he dove through the air for a catch against the White Sox, but he hit the ground with his right elbow first, leading to season-ending Tommy John surgery. He had to extend his glove arm to catch the ball with a one-run lead.

The Tigers would like Greene to pick his situations when he goes airborne, and he has been more judicious this season. His diving catch last week against Cleveland was closer to the ground.

“Modified,” Greene said of his Superman technique on that one.

Still, as manager A.J. Hinch acknowledged, you’re never going to tell Greene not to go for a ball.

“He never gives up on a play,” Hinch said. “He’s not fearful of anything.”

Greene has had that superhuman presence in Detroit’s outfield since well before his arrival in the Majors. He made headlines in 2020, his first season as a pro, when he reached over Comerica Park’s left-field fence to rob a home run during an intrasquad scrimmage.

The difference this year -- the superpower that made Greene an All-Star -- is that his hero status extends to his role in Detroit’s offense. He joins fellow All-Stars Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals and Elly De La Cruz of the Reds as the only Major Leaguers with at least 15 doubles, 15 home runs and five triples. He ranks in the American League’s top 10 in bWAR and Runs Created. He fell a double shy of a cycle earlier this month at Minnesota, including an infield single in which he raced to beat a throw, then fell a triple shy two nights later in Cincinnati.

With Kerry Carpenter injured and Spencer Torkelson working on his swing at Triple-A Toledo, Greene is the Tigers hitter that opponents assemble game plans around: Don’t let Riley Greene beat you. And yet, it keeps happening.

Part of his emergence came out of last season’s injury. He worked with a personal trainer to add strength to his body for both durability and power. He then worked with personal hitting coach Jered Goodwin on his plate approach to increase his launch angle while maintaining a quick swing.

That makes his All-Star selection all the sweeter. He didn’t crack the top 20 among AL outfielders in fan balloting, but he was voted in by players.

“It means a lot,” Greene said, “just because no one has really seen how hard I’ve gotten after it this offseason, really not having an offseason and just rehabbing the whole time.”

It’s not just opponents planning around Greene. If there’s a face to this youthful Tigers rebuild, a player the franchise can build around, Greene is the guy. It’s no slight to fellow All-Star Tarik Skubal, whose Cy Young campaign will take center stage in the Midsummer Classic. But while Skubal is a star every five days, Greene’s presence is daily.

In a rebuilt Tigers clubhouse, Greene has a key locker near the entrance and exit. Teammates walk by on their way in and out. Greene and reliever Andrew Chafin, whose locker is on the other end of the clubhouse, jokingly exchange greetings every day, with Greene asking Chafin how he’s doing and getting the same response each time.

Add it up, and it’s a big role for a 23-year-old, yet he handles it with a maturity beyond his age. After a tough-luck game last week that included two long outs and a diving play against him, the once-superstitious Greene -- who once slept with his bat in the Minor Leagues after a hitless game -- trusted the baseball gods would repay him. Later in the series, he slashed three line-drive singles for three RBIs in a key win over division-leading Cleveland to take a critical series.

On Tuesday, the cape goes on a national stage.