Superstitions? Extra work? Greene breaks slump with 3-hit game

DETROIT -- The Tigers have three hitting coaches on their staff to try to connect with hitters of all styles and philosophies. They have technology galore to measure swings and machines that can simulate the pitches a hitter can expect to face from a given pitcher. But all the tools at their disposal can’t lift a hitter through a slump. At some point, the hitter has to find their way.

Even for a hitter of Riley Greene’s class, a hitter whose rebound was inevitable, it can be easier said than done.

“What gets them out of these funks are hits. And we can't create those,” manager A.J. Hinch said before Greene’s three hits in Thursday’s 6-1 win over the Royals at Comerica Park. “He's got to get up and get a good pitch to hit and get rewarded for the approach and the swing that he puts on the ball.”

Eventually, it was going to happen. That didn’t make it any easier.

“I was hoping it was sooner than the six games we played on the road,” Greene said. “It’s the game of baseball. It’s hard. My teammates were in it with me. They were helping me out, keeping me positive. I just want to say thank you to them.”

Greene, who once slept with his bat during a slump when he was a prospect at Double-A Erie, had veered away from superstitions as he established himself as an All-Star last year. His skid brought some of them back.

“I kissed his bat today,” Spencer Torkelson said. “We did some crazy stuff. We were doing everything. It was all in fun.”

“It was starting to get weird," Greene said.

But for all the fun superstition, there was also a lot of hard work. Long before the Tigers took their usual batting practice Thursday afternoon, Greene was one of the first players on the field for early work. He could’ve slept in after the Tigers returned home from Milwaukee, but after an 0-for-19 road trip, part of an 0-for-22 skid, he wanted to work on his swing.

After Torkelson’s two-run double in the third inning broke the deadlock with Royals starter and former Tigers All-Star Michael Lorenzen, Greene -- whose first-inning popout to short extended his hitless streak to 23 at-bats -- broke out. He chased a breaking ball in the dirt for strike one but was ready when Lorenzen challenged him with a fastball at the top of the zone.

“Runners in scoring position, just choking up and trying to get it done,” Greene said. “I wasn’t trying to do too much. I was just trying to stay on that heater, put the barrel on the ball.”

The resulting liner up the middle wasn’t flashy, but it was effective, sending Torkelson home for a 3-0 lead.

The Tigers hadn’t produced a base hit with runners in scoring position since Monday’s series opener in Milwaukee, going 0-for-6 in consecutive games and 0-for-2 over the first couple innings Thursday. Torkelson and Greene provided two back-to-back base hits.

“It felt good to finally get some timely hits,” Torkelson said.

As Greene stopped at first base, he signaled that he wanted the ball. “It seems like a pretty classic joke when it’s been a while,” Torkelson said.

“No, I wanted the ball,” Greene deadpanned.

That was the breakthrough Greene needed. Two innings later, he stepped up with Carpenter on third and battled Lorenzen for six pitches, most of them low or in the dirt. Greene fouled off a nasty sweeper below the zone to keep the at-bat alive for a changeup at the knees, which he lined into right field for another RBI.

“Riley’s a really good hitter," Hinch said. “I don’t think many pitchers on the other side are racing to face him when he comes up to bat. He can be in the longest slump imaginable, and those guys still have to make pitches to get him out.”

Greene capped his night with a one-hopper up the middle that second baseman Michael Massey ran down but couldn’t throw to first in time. It was a jam shot on a 3-0 pitch, and Greene smelled the hit. His sprint speed down the line of 29.0 feet per second was his fastest of the season, according to Statcast.

“I’m not sure I’ve seen a player want a hit as badly as he did,” Hinch said.

The single earned Greene his second three-hit game of the year. He entered the day 3-for-36 with 20 strikeouts since his other three-hit game on April 4, the Tigers’ home opener.

“You know Greeney, he’s the same guy,” Torkelson said. “Obviously he wanted to contribute, and I think that’s what bothered him the most.”