Riley Greene injury: Tigers star placed on IL just days ahead of pivotal MLB trade deadline for Detroit

The Detroit Tigers placed outfielder Riley Greene on the injured list on Friday because of a right hamstring strain. In a corresponding move, the Tigers recalled utility player Ryan Vilade from Triple-A Toledo.

Greene, 23, has been Detroit's most productive hitter this season. In 101 games to date, he's hit .264/.357/.485 (134 OPS+) with 17 home runs and four stolen bases (on five tries). Greene's contributions have been worth an estimated 4 Wins Above Replacement, according to the calculations hosted at Baseball Reference.

At this point, the Tigers have offered no timetable on when Greene might return. Baseball Prospectus' database indicates that hamstring strains cost players an average of 27 days and a median of 20 days. Every injury is unique in its own way, however, and there's no guarantee Greene will miss between 20 and 27 days because of this ailment.

"Right hammy strain," Greene told reporters, including Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic . "It's Grade 1 or 2, whatever it is. It could have been worse. I'm glad it's not. There's really no timeline behind it. It's based on how I'm feeling, and go from there."

Greene's injury comes at a bad time for the Tigers, who entered Friday 5 1/2 games back in the American League wild-card race. The Tigers' playoff chances were modest to begin with -- they are, after all, trailing four other teams, plus the Kansas City Royals -- but now they'll be without their best hitter heading into the July 30 trade deadline.

In turn, the Tigers might now be more aggressive in selling. Right-handed starter Jack Flaherty , outfielder/first baseman Mark Canha , catcher Carson Kelly , infielder Gio Urshela , and lefty reliever Andrew Chafin are among the Tigers' impending free agents. The Tigers will presumably continue to field offers on lefty ace Tarik Skubal , too, though he remains under team control through the 2026 season and they're under no pressure to move him.