Riley Greene DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene is not in the starting nine on Sunday afternoon when the Tigers conclude a series with the Chicago White Sox. Greene has started in each of the first eight contests of the regular season. Through this start, Greene has been swinging a hot bat, posting a .361/.361/.722 slash line with four doubles and three home runs. Instead, the Tigers will give Kerry Carpenter the starting nod in left field. Fantasy managers should expect Greene to return to the starting nine on Monday afternoon when the team kicks off a series against the New York Yankees. Carpenter and the Detroit offense are worth targeting in DFS facing Chicago southpaw Martin Perez, who posted a high 4.53 ERA last season.

Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene went 2-for-4 with a double and a home run in his team's 4-1 road win over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday. Greene knocked in one RBI and scored and struck out twice. The former fifth-overall pick of the 2019 draft posted two hard-hit balls in this one -- his double came off the bat at 95.9 MPH, and the round-tripper, a 106.2 MPH blast to left-center-field off Trent Thornton. Greene curiously hasn't drawn a walk yet -- something he did at an 11.0% clip a season ago -- and holds a ghastly 43.5% strikeout rate. However, those should normalize as the season trudges along. The 24-year-old is 6-for-23 (.261) with two homers, two doubles, two RBI, and four runs.

Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene could see more opportunities in center field at the start of the season. Last season, Greene made most of his starts in left field but did occasionally get the nod in center. However, due to the numerous injuries in the Detroit outfield, Greene may shift to a permanent role in center field. Parker Meadows (arm) is in danger of missing Opening Day and Matt Vierling (shoulder) and Wenceel Perez (back) are currently sidelined. Across a career-high 137 contests last summer, Greene posted a .262/.348/.479 slash line with 27 doubles and 24 long balls. He generated an elite .353 xwOBA and a .477 xSLG. He drew walks at a solid 11.0 percent rate and generated hard hits at a 47.1 percent rate. If the 24-year-old were to shift to center field, he could be in line to see a career-high in plate appearances, especially if Detroit does not have many proven healthy options behind him on the roster.