Well, that didn’t take long.
Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene, the No. 2 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, recorded a single in the top of the first inning in his first major league at bat.
After taking a fastball outside on his first pitch, the 21-year-old outfielder got a slider on his second pitch and flared in into shallow left field, falling in front of left fielder Zach Reks for a single.
The ball was hit just 68.2 mph, but had an .850 expected batting average, according to baseball savant. Greene was told Friday afternoon he would get the call up to the major leagues while in Worcester, Massachusetts. He couldn’t get a flight out that evening, so he stayed at an airport hotel before flying to Detroit on Saturday morning.
There, he met with media, where he declared the Tigers were going to start winning ball games.
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Greene’s hit was the fourth of the inning for the Tigers, who had an offensive explosion by their standards to start the game.
Robbie Grossman got things started with a one-out home run into the bullpen in left field — his first of the year after hitting a career-high 23 in his first season with the Tigers in 2021.
After a Miguel Cabrera flyout, Eric Haase ripped a double down the left field line, bringing up slumping Javier Báez. On a 1-1 pitch, Baez got a slider and sent it deep into left field for a home run, his fourth of the year and first since May 22.
That made it 3-1, which brought up Greene, who singled to start his major league career.
Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on twitter at @realtonygarcia.