Riley Greene's slump has him teetering on the edge of worst kind of MLB history

Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene is having an odd season at the plate, and right now it's not going so well.

Let’s start with the good news. Greene was named an All-Star starter in July, marking his second consecutive appearance in the Midsummer Classic. He’s still just 24 years old. Last season, Greene became the youngest Tigers All-Star since Travis Fryman in 1992.

Despite suffering through multiple slumps this season, Greene’s 2025 numbers remain solid. Entering Friday, Greene was slashing .266 /.312/ .502/ .814 with 26 home runs and 84 RBI.

For the bad news, let’s zoom in on the most recent slump. Greene is 12-for-70 (.171) with 28 strikeouts since the All-Star break. The former No. 5 overall pick leads Major League Baseball with 153 strikeouts, which got Ben Bosscher of 100.9 The Mitt thinking about Greene’s place in league history this week.

“The Riley Greene strikeout issue is frustrating, annoying, impermissible,” Bosscher posted to X. “But I'm fairly confident it eventually works itself out … Pacing for 213 Ks, Greene would finish inside the T-10 for single season punchouts. But his .269 szn AVG trumps all other members of the list.”

Indeed, none of the top-10 single-season strikeout leaders had a batting average higher than .260. Interestingly, the name at the top of the list, Mark Reynolds (223 strikeouts in 2009), tallied the highest batting average among the top 10 (.260). In case you are curious, four active players appear on the list: Elly De La Cruz (218 strikeouts in 2024; ranked No. 4), Yoán Moncada (217 strikeouts in 2018; No. 5), Kyle Schwarber (215 strikeouts in 2023; No. 6), and Eugenio Suárez (214 strikeouts in 2023; No. 7).

When it comes to breaking Reynold’s mark of 223 strikeouts, Greene is by no means out of the woods, especially if he keeps struggling. On the other hand, is the strikeout record really a worst-case scenario? The constant strikeout victims of today’s game listed above have seven All-Star appearances among them, with Moncada the only player without one.

Furthermore, some of the most legendary hitters in the history of baseball were prone to excessive whiffing (Babe Ruth included). 

It would be nonsensical to claim that Greene’s gigantic pile of strikeouts this season is anything but negative, but the more interesting point is that he’s having an overall successful season despite it all, and he’s not the first player to experience such a duality.