This Riley Greene stat may explain why he’s struggled to reach superstar status with Tigers

For the past five years, Riley Greene has been a staple of the Detroit Tigers’ lineup, batting somewhere in the middle of the order as one of the bright young stars in baseball.

The Tigers want that “star” status to be swapped out with a “superstar” tag, but he hasn’t quite reached that level yet, which might actually help Detroit during offseason contract negotiations. He’s currently has one year left on his contract and fans are hopeful that a deal can be done to keep him in Detroit for a long time.

If Greene wants to stick around for a while, he’ll need to prove himself as more than just a star and really good player; he’ll need to take that next step.

For that to happen, his clutch gene needs to surface. In fact, one stat shared by Thomas Nestico on Twitter regarding home runs in low-leverage situations might just explain why Greene has been struggling to reach superstar status with the Tigers.

About 62% of Greene’s home runs this season have come in low-leverage situations.

That 62 percent is a little too high, but his 16 home runs are probably a little too low as well. This stat is just further proof that Greene isn’t where he needs to be just yet.

Greene has a batting average of just .242 in the seventh inning or later in 128 at-bats this season with just three home runs and 11 RBI while striking out 46 times. He’s averaging a strikeout every 2.78 at-bats in the seventh inning or later this year and he’s slashing .242/.366/.359.

If you can believe it, he was even worse during the 2025 season in seventh inning or later situations, slashing just .177/.229/.382 with 10 homers and 27 RBI in 186 at-bats.

Not great for a guy who’s supposed to be the team’s superstar player.

This will leave fans and front office members wondering if he’ll ever get to superstar status.

Riley Greene has the tools to become a superstar

Greene is fresh off a career season in which he hit 36 home runs with 111 RBI while batting .238 with a .313 on-base percentage. His power numbers were great and that was an improvement from the 2024 season. when he hit 24 home runs with 74 RBI, but he was exponentially more clutch that year, hitting .297 with nine home runs and 22 RBI in the seventh inning or later.

It seems like he’s swinging at worse pitches and his strikeout rate has increased dramatically over the past two years. That has a lot to do with the struggles in late-game situations.

Greene often presses a little too much and tries to play hero when the situation calls for him to just try and get on base. That leads to a lot of strikeouts, wasted at-bats, and anti-clutch instances.

The tools are there to become a superstar, though.

He has proven to have plus contact, power, he’s a solid fielder despite not being crazy fast, and he has an overall great feel for the game. He’s also one of the leaders in the clubhouse.

If he can find a way to put all of these together while finding that clutch gene that seemingly escaped him after the 2024 season, he’s going to be a superstar in this league, which is easier said than done.

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