BOSTON —Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene started in center field on Thursday for the first time in the 2024 season.
It's because the Tigers are playing at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. Center field at Fenway Park is difficult to play, for a couple of reasons.
The first is the Green Monster that stretches from the left-field corner to the beginning of center field. The second is the center field triangle to the left of the home bullpen that creates unusual angles in the deepest part of the park.
"When you're playing in different ballparks with different configurations, we want to overlap strength on strength with where guys are going to play," manager A.J. Hinch said Thursday. "It'll just be considering covering the area. This is the biggest right field in baseball. It's the smallest left field in baseball. That's a unique configuration as it is."
Hinch picked Greene for center field at Fenway Park over Matt Vierling, who started in right. Akil Baddoo got the start in left field while Mark Canha, a veteran outfielder, started as the designated hitter; Wenceel Pérez, a switch-hitting outfield, opened the game on the bench.
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"It's part feel, part trying to spread our defenders out," Hinch said. "The big question over four games is do you put one person in left field and have them learn the Monster or not? I may play Canha in the next couple days there, too. But yeah, decision points all over the place."
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Greene isn't a stranger to center field at Fenway Park.
He played three games there in 2022 and two games there in 2023.
"I've played it in the past," Greene said Thursday. "I know what the ball is going to do. We got the Monster right there, so we have to play it off that, and then we got the triangle in right-center, so it's just being cautious of that and knowing how far we gotta run."
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The 23-year-old has made three highlight-reel catches in Fenway Park's center field throughout his three-year MLB career: June 20, 2022, June 21, 2022, and Aug. 11, 2023.
He remembers the catch from June 21 — the fourth game of his MLB career —because it was his first encounter with dangerous triangular cutout in center field.
Rafael Devers hammered a slider from Beau Brieske to the deepest part of the park with two outs in the third inning. Greene tracked the ball while running toward the corner of the cutout. It looked awkward, but he made a leaping catch to end the inning.
"I felt like I was running forever," Greene said. "I thought I was going to hit the wall at any point, and I just never hit the wall. There's a lot of room out there, so it should be fun."
Ballpark aside, Greene is comfortable and confident in center field. He has played nearly 1,500 of his 1,911 defensive innings in center field, primarily in 2022 and 2023.
In 2024, Greene has worked just 5⅓ innings in center field across four games. He is an above-average defender in left field, which is where he has started all but one game this season.
But Greene enjoys captaining the outfield defense in center field every once in a while.
"Sure, you can say that," Greene said. "I've gotten pretty comfortable in left field. I've been playing it almost every day. But yeah, being in center is awesome. I forgot what it felt like. I'll have fun out there."
Shelby Miller 'feeling good'
Right-handed reliever Shelby Miller continues his rehab assignment Friday with Triple-A Toledo. It will be his second appearance for the Mud Hens in his return from ulnar nerve inflammation.
Miller felt good bouncing back from his first rehab game.
"It was good to get back out there," Miller said Wednesday. "More importantly, I feel good today. It's kind of the biggest point, feeling good afterwards."
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The 33-year-old pitched Tuesday for Triple-A Toledo, throwing one scoreless inning on one hit and one walk with one strikeout. He tossed 12 of 20 pitches for strikes.
His fastball averaged 93.4 mph.
"I was more concerned about getting the velocity back to where it needs to be," said Miller, whose velocity had slipped to 91-92 mph before landing on the injured list. "The split was pretty good, and then I threw a couple of sliders. I'd like to lock in a little bit more on fastball location, but all in all, I felt pretty solid for the first time back."
Miller owns a 4.41 ERA, six walks and 15 strikeouts across 16⅓ innings in 15 relief appearances. He is eligible to return from the injured list at any time, but the Tigers won't rush his return until he is ready to compete at his best.
He didn't travel to Boston.
"He just hasn't pitched a ton," Hinch said. "We're giving him another feel to give him confidence that when he comes back, he doesn't have to ease his way in. We're playing in one of the more offensive ballparks in baseball, and then we go to Texas from here. We need him to be good when he gets back, not just healthy."
Contact Evan Petzold atepetzold@freepress.comor follow him@EvanPetzold.
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