Detroit Tigers' Riley Greene makes 2024 MLB All-Star Game after fan voting overlooked him

CINCINNATI — Everyone knew Tarik Skubal, the ace of the pitching staff and one of the best pitchers in baseball, would represent the Detroit Tigers at the All-Star Game.

But what about Riley Greene?

The fans forgot about the 23-year-old rising star, but his fellow players selected him to join Skubal in representing the Tigers in the 2024 All-Star Game on July 16 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The 94th Midsummer Classic between the American League and National League starts at 8 p.m. (Fox).

"It's awesome," Greene said, reacting to his first All-Star nod. "Just showing up every day trying to help the team win, and good things happen."

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Manager A.J. Hinch stood in front of the entire team to address the players before Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Reds. He revealed the Tigers had multiple All-Stars this year, then he announced Skubal — the no-doubt All-Star among the group — before Greene.

Greene got a lot of love from his teammates.

That's because Greene — the No. 5 overall pick in the 2019 draft — wasn't guaranteed to make the All-Star Game. Greene was overlooked in the fan voting despite playing at an All-Star level in the first half of the season. Somehow, he didn't finish in the top 20 among AL outfielders.

"I didn't really pay attention to any of the voting," Greene said. "I was just playing baseball."

Greene wasn't consumed by the lack of fan voting, but his teammates supported his case to represent the Tigers in the All-Star Game, in which Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Steven Kwan will start in the AL outfield.

"He deserved it," said Skubal, who has a 2.37 ERA in 18 starts. "He plays every day. It's special stuff what he can do against left-handed pitching, right-handed pitching, it doesn't matter. I'm glad he's on my team so I don't have to pitch to him."

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In 2024, Greene is hitting .261 with 17 home runs, 47 walks (12.5% walk rate) and 100 strikeouts (26.5% strikeout rate) in 89 games. As for defense, Greene has been worth plus-7 defensive runs saved in left field.

Those are All-Star numbers.

"I think being named that is something that shows that you're doing the right things, you're helping your team win, you're playing well," Greene said. "It's an honor that shows what you've been doing."

It hasn't been an easy All-Star journey for Greene. He suffered three injuries in the first two seasons of his three-year MLB career: a right foot fracture in April 2022, a left fibula stress reaction in May 2023 and a right elbow sprain in September 2023. Two of those injuries — the foot fracture and the elbow sprain — required surgery.

He spent this past offseason working with new trainer Ben De La Cruz to unlock his power to hit more home runs and strengthen specific muscles to keep him healthy.

"Riley has battled a ton of injuries," Hinch said, "and a lot of expectations and a fast track to the big leagues, and look at him now. He's amongst the best in the game."

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Greene has career bests in home-run rate, walk rate and strikeout rate in his third season, needing just 87 games to hit 17 homers, surpassing the 16 homers he hit across 192 games in his first two seasons combined.

His .856 OPS ranks 18th in MLB, 10th in the AL and fifth among AL outfielders when compared to other qualified players. Only four AL outfielders outrank him in the OPS category: Judge (1.118), Soto (.985), Kwan (.957) and Yordan Alvarez (.927), who made the AL squad as the starting designated hitter.

Since May 29, Greene is hitting .303 with eight of his 17 home runs and a .990 OPS in 37 games. He often single-handedly carries the Tigers' offense while slugging outfielder Kerry Carpenter remains on the injured list.

"He deserves every bit of it," said center fielder Parker Meadows, who first played with Greene in High-A West Michigan in 2019. "I'm not surprised at all, to be honest. Not only is he an unbelievable player, he's a great guy off the field. I'm so happy for him and his family."

Greene planned to surprise his parents by traveling home to Oviedo, Florida, for the All-Star break. Instead, the entire family will spend the break watching their All-Star compete with the best players in the world in Texas.

The All-Star Game is an unexpected but fully deserved surprise for Greene.

"They're going to be excited," Greene said of his family. "They were all talking about it at the start of the season. I'm like, 'Guys, we haven't even started the season yet.' They're going to be excited. I know they're going to be proud."

Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Riley Greene makes 2024 MLB All-Star Game for AL