Shane Greene turning heads for Tigers
By Tim Haberin
The Detroit Tigers couldn’t really ask for more out of new starting pitcher Shane Greene‘s first two outings. On Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, he shut down a talented Pirates lineup over eight innings, allowing no runs and limiting the Bucs to just three hits. It was almost a bit of early season déjà vu for Greene, whose first start five days earlier was quite similar to this one. On April 9, he tossed eight innings against division rival Minnesota, giving up four hits and zero earned runs.
Greene featured in a prominent three-team offseason trade between the Tigers, Yankees and Diamondbacks, one that also saw shortstop Didi Gregorius move to the Bronx. With New York’s pitching staff ravaged by injuries in 2014, Greene was an unexpected surprise, taking advantage of his opportunity in the starting rotation. The 102 ERA+ he posted over fifteen appearances was about league average, but the more impressive element of his performance last season came in his ability to strike out hitters.
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He allowed more than a hit per inning (81 in 78.2 IP) and walked his fair share as well (29 BB). So the 81 strikeouts he racked up, good for a sparkling 9.3 K/9, certainly went to good use, allowing him to strand runners and get out of innings. The pessimistic angle entering 2015, of course, was that Greene would be unlikely to maintain that lofty strikeout rate and end up paying for it.
The somewhat eye-opening aspect of his first two starts then is that Greene looked dominant without fanning hitters at such a high clip. In his first outing he struck out five, followed by three in his second. It’s a rather safe bet he won’t pitch to a 4.5 K/9 the entire year (he averaged 8.2 K/9 through six minor league campaigns) but it’s encouraging that he doesn’t necessarily have to rely on the strikeout.
Greene has also simply done a better job so far of keeping opponents off base. In his 16 innings he’s surrendered seven hits and only walked one, perhaps laying the groundwork for a significant improvement on last year’s 1.40 WHIP. Doing so will provide him even more flexibility going forward.
A variety of factors make Shane Greene’s future prospects with the Tigers look bright. Despite his solid numbers, he did not exactly benefit from an abundance of support with the Yankees, offensively or defensively. Batters enjoyed a bloated .330 BABIP against him last season, a figure which should conceivably come down with Greene playing in front of a superior infield defense headed by shortstop Jose Iglesias. He also had to contend with an anemic 3.70 runs of support on average. Far more prosperous times are in order with Detroit’s stacked lineup, and Greene should have no problem exceeding last year’s win total.
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Also worth noting is that Greene tossed 85 and 81 pitches in his first two starts respectively. Later in the season he’s likely given the chance to finish those games. He is also 26, certainly young enough to continue to evolve but also somewhat of a late-bloomer as far as big league pitchers are concerned. Which raises the question: just how good can Shane Greene be? With a considerable repertoire of pitches at his command and a renewed dedication to his changeup, the ceiling appears much higher than once thought.
If they weren’t already, Tigers fans will be taking notice. And with Didi Gregorius struggling thus far with both the bat and the glove, more than a few Yankees supporters (this writer included) will do so as well, wondering if this will turn into a bona fide case of “the one that got away.”
Next: Few surprises with Detroit Tigers' current offensive pace