DETROIT -- The last thing Riley Greene wanted this season was a return to the injured list. But the way his right hamstring was hobbling him, playing through it wasn¡¯t working.

His swings were almost all arms, a shadow of the fluid form that made the Tigers outfielder an All-Star this month at age 23. His explosive movements were lacking and games at designated hitter were only masking the issue rather than fixing it.

¡°I knew I was getting into my legs, and that¡¯s not me,¡± Greene said. ¡°Didn¡¯t feel too good [Thursday], even when I wasn¡¯t hitting.¡±

Said manager A.J. Hinch: ¡°He didn¡¯t look right. You guys saw it. We saw it.¡±

Thursday¡¯s 0-for-4, three-strikeout performance at Cleveland was an alarm that prompted Greene and the Tigers to get him checked out. Tests revealed what Greene and the Tigers called a mild strain of his hamstring, prompting the Tigers to place their star hitter on the 10-day injured list in hopes of avoiding a worse injury and longer absence.

¡°It could¡¯ve been worse,¡± Greene said, ¡°and I¡¯m glad it¡¯s not. There¡¯s really no timeline behind it. It¡¯s just based on how I¡¯m feeling. And we¡¯ll just go from there.¡±

It¡¯s the third IL stint in two seasons for Greene, none of them for the same injury. He missed about five weeks last summer with a stress reaction in his left fibula, then saw his season end a month early after a right elbow injury on a diving catch led to Tommy John surgery. His MLB debut in 2022 was delayed until mid-June due to a fractured right foot on a foul ball he hit in the final days of Spring Training.

His latest injury isn¡¯t nearly as severe or concerning. But the Tigers would rather knock it out now than risk suffering a more severe strain or suffer a different injury compensating for it.

¡°Despite him being able to do some things, we have to protect him,¡± Hinch said. ¡°We¡¯re going to see if some time off can mend this faster than trying to work through it.¡±

Unlike most hamstring injuries, Greene said he had no particular incident in which it pulled. Though he made a sliding catch on the turf at Globe Life Field during last week¡¯s All-Star Game and played two games in center field on the artificial surface at Toronto¡¯s Rogers Centre last weekend, Greene said he didn¡¯t feel an injury until Monday in Cleveland, where he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and played in center field.

Beyond last week, though, Greene has carried a heavy workload all season as the main cog in a young Tigers lineup and outfield. He began the season in left field but has played center frequently this summer after Parker Meadows was optioned to Triple-A Toledo and later went on the injured list with a right hamstring strain.

Greene started 94 of Detroit¡¯s 97 games before the break, entered two of the other three as a reserve and played the full game in 91 of them.

To fill Greene¡¯s roster spot, the Tigers recalled Ryan Vilade, who went 6-for-18 with a solo homer in his latest Detroit stint before being optioned to Triple-A Toledo last Sunday for Bligh Madris. Vilade will likely see a healthy amount of left field in Greene¡¯s place, while Matt Vierling will be Detroit¡¯s primary center fielder.