5 Detroit Tigers That Could Surprise in 2015

Feb 23, 2015; Lakeland, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers pitcher Shane Greene (61) pitches during Monday mornings workout at Joker Merchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

#1 Shane Greene

Many Detroit Tigers fans were not enamored with some of the trades Dave Dombrowski orchestrated this offseason, but one that was pretty much universally liked was bringing Shane Greene in from the New York Yankees for mainly Robbie Ray (who went to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-way deal).

Greene showed incredible poise for a rookie on the massive stage of being a Yankee in 2014. New York’s pitching staff was battered last year with the injuries of veteran C.C. Sabathia and dynamic international rookie Masahiro Tanaka. Greene came up in July and started 14 games for the remainder of the season.

He appeared on the Tigers’ radar by dominating them in two outings, allowing two runs over 15 innings (winning each game).

Greene is a strikeout pitcher (averaging one per inning), so he fits the Tigers’ mold pretty well. Sure his ERA is somewhat bloated, though you could argue that had a lot to do with the new(er) Yankee Stadium, a place where every Yankees’ pitcher has struggled since it opened. Remember how good Sabathia used to be?

He got hit around near the end of the season, a pair of six-run games drove up his ERA, but finished with a respectable (for his age) 3.78 ERA and 1.398 WHIP.

The Tigers have two big questions marks at the end of their rotation. Greene and Alfredo Simon are not as proven as the Tigers’ former fourth and fifth starters of Fister and Rick Porcello, however everyone has to start somewhere.

As far as Greene starting somewhere, he has already been solid in New York as a rookie in their homer-friendly park and should begin to become an even better pitcher for the Detroit Tigers in 2015.

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