Crazy Tigers injury stat adds to Guardians' AL Central luck in 2026

For the better part of the past month, the race for the American League Central has been a two-team race between the Guardians and White Sox. 

Although there were some brief moments this year where the Twins and Tigers butted their way into the postseason conversation, they never did enough to become a true contender. 

When it comes to the Tigers, there are two moments that stand out as reasons for that fade. The first came on Aug. 3 when Detroit’s leaders gutted the rotation by trading away Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize. 

The next moment came a little more than a week later when star outfielder Riley Greene was placed on the injured list due to a hamstring strain he suffered in a game against the Guardians. The Tigers ended up going 6-16 in the three weeks that Greene missed, which put them in a hole that they haven’t been able to climb out of. 

Even though José Ramírez’s hamate injury has had a huge impact on the Guardians’ season, the Tigers drastic splits with and without Greene is a reminder that they had some injury luck break their way this season as well. 

Riley Greene's hamstring injury could end up helping the Guardians in more way than one

Greene should still get some down-ballot MVP votes even with that injury, as he entered play on Tuesday slashing .284/.371/.483 with 20 home runs and 71 RBI in 129 games. 

Part of the reason for those strong numbers is because of how he’s played since returning from the injured list (1.175 OPS in 12 games), which ironically could help the Guardians get into the postseason. 

On Monday Greene and the Tigers helped the Guardians out by picking up a come-from-behind win over the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre, and they follow that series up with a three-game set against the White Sox. 

The best way for the Guardians to get into the postseason is by taking care of business in their games, but getting good performances from Greene and his teammates could go a long way toward making sure there’s postseason baseball in Cleveland. 

That may put Guardians fans in a weird place since they’re cheering for a division foe, but such is life when you’re in the middle of a postseason race. 

It also opens up an interesting hypothetical of what the Guardians’ postseason picture would look like if Greene hadn’t gotten hurt.

The Tigers are still on the fringes of the postseason race (they entered Tuesday 4 1/2 games back in the Wild Card), and they likely would be even closer had Greene not missed so much time. 

But, luckily for Guardians fans, that’s just a hypothetical since Greene did miss that time. 

The Tigers may be too far gone for Greene to save them, but he has just enough time left in his season to help the Guardians. 

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow