Detroit Tigers' Riley Greene sits Tuesday in Cleveland with ailing legs
Evan PetzoldCLEVELAND — Riley Greene needs to rest his legs.
Greene, a 23-year-old outfielder who has a history of lower-body injuries, wasn't in the Detroit Tigers' starting lineup for Tuesday's game against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. He wasn't in the lineup because his legs are bothering him.
Greene has played in just three of five games since the Tigers came back from the All-Star break, but the Tigers expect Greene — who played in the All-Star Game for the first time in his three-year MLB career — to return to the lineup Wednesday as the designated hitter.
"He's pretty beat up from the last couple of weeks," manager A.J. Hinch said before Tuesday's game. "I'm going to give him another day to kind of get his legs underneath him. ... He's just a little beat up. His legs are bothering him."
Before the All-Star break, Greene played in all but one of the Tigers' 97 games. In 2024, Greene is hitting .268 with 17 home runs, 50 walks and 105 strikeouts across 99 games. He has spent most of his time in left field while also getting plenty of reps in center field.
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He previously dealt with a lower-body issue May 31, 2023, when he landed on the injured list with a left fibula stress reaction and missed more than a month.
Keeping Greene healthy — specifically keeping his legs healthy — has been a point of emphasis for the Tigers in 2024 as a result of the wear-and-tear fibula injury in 2023.
"I think early we had a pretty good setup where the DH spot was spread around a little bit," Hinch said. "There was a long stretch during the middle part of this first half where we were running him out there all the time in the outfield, and I didn't give him hardly any breaks."
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Moving forward, Greene will receive more scheduled off days.
"We're going to see a few more routine days off and be a little bit more responsive, for a couple reasons," Hinch said. "One, we have some capable guys that, when they're fresh, need to play. Two, I think he only missed one game in the first half. But he's going to play a boatload."
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Parker Meadows ready to run
Center fielder Parker Meadows (right hamstring strain), who hasn't played since July 7, is scheduled to complete a base-running session Wednesday as part of his return-to-play program.
"That's a really good sign," Hinch said. "He's been doing all the baseball stuff for a few days now, which is good. He will start to graduate to more angles and running around bases."
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Meadows, 24, appears on track to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo before the end of July, which means he could return to the Tigers in early August.
Kerry Carpenter update
Outfielder Kerry Carpenter (lumbar spine stress fracture) already guaranteed his return to the Tigers in the 2024 season, but he continues to advance slowly in his recovery from the lower back injury. After Tuesday, there are 60 games remaining until the season ends.
Carpenter, 26, already experienced one setback while running.
"I don't think it's accurate to say he's not doing anything," Hinch said. "He's just not getting to the rehab assignment quite yet, but he's still doing, whether it's core strengthening, whether it's some of the things he's doing. The things he's doing in the training room are progressing him to the next, it's just slow."
Carpenter, who hasn't played since May 26, is hitting .283 with eight home runs, 11 walks and 38 strikeouts in 50 games. Right now, he is performing baseball activities with a running progression as part of his return-to-play program.
"There are steps, they're just baby steps," Hinch said. "The biggest key is to not initiate more inflammation in the area that will probably not completely heal until there's a long time of inactivity. He's doing fine, though. It's just slow."
Reese Olson update
Right-hander Reese Olson (right shoulder strain) doesn't need surgery for his right shoulder injury, but he has been completely shut down from throwing.
Eventually, Olson will begin a throwing program.
"There's nothing really to talk about now because he's not doing much more than rehab therapy and rest," Hinch said. "Once he starts the throwing program, it'll build him back up. The key will be how long he is not throwing. That will dictate how long a throwing program will take to get him up and running."
Olson has a 3.23 ERA with 31 walks and 92 strikeouts across 103 innings in 19 starts. The 24-year-old departed Saturday's start with the right shoulder injury after throwing two innings.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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