Once-promising season ends with a whimper for Detroit Tigers’ Shane Greene
By Tim Haberin
When discussing the biggest surprises of the season in the earliest days of the 2015 MLB campaign, you likely would have included Detroit Tigers pitcher Shane Greene in the conversation. The 26-year-old right-hander enjoyed an unexpectedly dominant start to the year, one that caught the attention of more than a few around the league.
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That seems like a very distant memory, however, as Greene struggled through ineffectiveness and minor league demotions before unceremoniously having his season cut short yesterday. Manager Brad Ausmus announced that the young pitcher would undergo surgery on his right shoulder that would shut him down for the remainder of 2015.
Greene came up through the New York Yankees system and was dealt to Detroit last winter as part of the three-team trade that also sent shortstop Didi Gregorius to the Bronx. He was coming off a solid rookie season in pinstripes, but no one could have predicted the kind of start he would get off to with the Tigers.
Greene began the campaign by tossing a pair of eight-inning performances against Minnesota and Pittsburgh. He allowed seven hits, one walk and zero earned runs across the two outings. He cut through the competition easily as well, requiring no more than 85 pitches to get through either start.
In his third time on the hill opposite the White Sox, Greene threw seven more strong frames, surrendering just a single earned run. He came out of this early stretch sporting a minuscule 0.39 ERA, having given up only 12 hits and one earned run in 23 total innings. And with Gregorius enduring a rocky start to his time in New York (.206 BA through April), some were starting to wonder if the Yankees were already having second thoughts about letting Greene go.
Greene’s good fortune ended quite abruptly, though. He was lit up for eight runs in four innings during his next start against Cleveland, an ugly performance that seemed to snowball for the second-year hurler. Over his next nine starts, Greene posted a 7.68 ERA, serving up 55 hits in 41 innings of work. Opponents also hit a hearty .322 against him in that span.
Detroit Tigers
This poor stretch not only cost Greene his spot in the rotation, but his place on the big league roster as well. The Tigers optioned him to Triple-A Toledo on June 12 in hopes he would sort himself out there. He made his return about a month later and somehow looked even worse, pitching to a ghastly 11.20 ERA over his next three outings. He failed to get out of the fifth inning in any of those starts.
Detroit had no choice but to banish Greene to the bullpen at the end of July. He made two appearances in relief before once again being shuttled down to Triple-A. He began experiencing numbness in his fingers earlier this month, leading to the diagnosis of an artery issue that will necessitate surgery.
While Greene’s run of dominance was far too brief to draw any firm conclusions, it was enough to get the Tigers and their fans excited about a young pitcher who was perhaps coming into his own. Those types of thoughts were quickly put on hold, however, and now they will need to wait until 2016.
Detroit will likely hope that Greene’s injury is at least partly to blame for his sudden drop in performance and that a return to full health will have him looking like a very different pitcher. One area Greene could stand to rebound in is his strikeout ability. After putting up a 9.3 K/9 rate last year, he fanned hitters at just a 5.4 K/9 clip this season.
Looking ahead, Greene certainly won’t lack for competition in next year’s Spring Training. The Tigers have collected several intriguing young arms, such as 22-year-old lefty Daniel Norris, acquired from the Blue Jays in the David Price trade. If Greene wants to regain his spot in the rotation, he’ll have to earn it. The numbers he put up last year with the Yankees (3.78 ERA in 78.2 innings) would be solid bounce-back goals for him.