Riley Greene finally shows signs of life for Tigers after worrisome hitless skid

While unlikely candidate Spencer Torkelson has had a meteoric rise at the plate so far this season, Riley Greene — the guy who was receiving early AL MVP hype — has been paling in comparison not just to Torkelson, but to the rest of the Tigers' lineup.

Greene got off to a great start in his first eight starts, hitting three homers and wracking up four extra base hits with five RBI. He was still striking out too much and walking never, but he had a .361 average and 1.083 OPS during that initial stretch.

Ever since then, though? Crickets. He suffered a nine-game stretch from April 6-16 with a single hit, a single, to show for it, and he struck out 19 times, dropping his numbers to .206/.636 and his place in the batting order as low as fifth.

Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic pointed out that Greene has frequently been prone to dramatic peaks and valleys, but it was hard not to notice - especially now, when the likes of Torkelson, Kerry Carpenter, and even rookie Dillon Dingler are showing out (subscription required).

On Thursday night, however, Greene finally seemed to turn a corner. He enjoyed a three-hit night, two of which drove in a run apiece, and didn't strike out once.

Tigers star Riley Greene's three-hit night against the Royals on Thursday might be a turning point after nine-game slump

AJ Hinch stood by Greene ahead of Thursday's game and afterwards said, "I'm not sure I've seen a player want a hit as badly as he did on the infield, swinging 3-0 and found his third hit. Really happy for him to get some results. For him personally and also for our team. We are a different lineup when we are getting contributions throughout."

Greene and Torkelson were responsible for the majority of the Tigers' run scoring, with Torkelson knocking in the first two runs in the bottom of the third off of former Tiger Michael Lorenzen and Greene following to extend the lead.

Torkelson and Greene, taken in back-to-back years of the draft, were long expected to be the future of Tigers hitting. Greene's streakiness might be something that fans just have to get used to at this point. If they can both be on at the same time for at least a somewhat sustainable amount of time, as they were on Thursday, then they could make the lineup incredibly dangerous.