Story by
Detroit Tigers rookie Colt Keith finds his speed in MLB with help from Riley Greene
- Story by
- Detroit Tigers rookie Colt Keith finds his speed in MLB with help from Riley Greene
CINCINNATI — Detroit Tigers rookie Colt Keith knew he hit a home run when his bat struck the ball.
Not once but twice.
The 22-year-old crushed two no-doubt home runs in Friday's 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park, registering the first multi-homer game of his MLB career. On the second homer, the left-handed hitting Keith showed his swagger by holding his left arm in the air while watching the ball fly 415 feet to the pull side.
Advertisement
MAKING ADJUSTMENTS: Colt Keith is starting to live up to the hype and the Tigers are giddy
"Those were the first two in the big leagues where I hit them and I knew they were going to be homers," said Keith, who grew up less than 200 miles east of Cincinnati, in Zanesville, Ohio. "That's a really good feeling because it means I'm behind the ball, feeling everything and more conscious of the game, instead of being sped up."
Detroit Tigers second base Colt Keith (33) hits a 2-run home in the fifth inning of the MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Detroit Tigers at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Friday, July 5, 2024.
Keith has felt sped up many times in his professional career.
It happens to him every time he moves up a level.
At High-A West Michigan, Keith hit .162 with one home run in his first 28 games, then .327 with nine homers in his final 38 games. At Double-A Erie, Keith hit .262 with five homers in his first 29 games, then .387 with nine homers in his final 30 games. At Triple-A Toledo, Keith hit .267 with three homers in his first 27 games, then .301 with 10 homers in his final 40 games.
Advertisement
"I've gone up levels, and I've felt really sped up," Keith said, "not really knowing what's going on around me, not seeing the spin of the pitch. You get to a point where you start seeing it better, you start feeling good, you start knowing the situation better, you start knowing where the runners are better."
A MILESTONE: Tigers rookie Colt Keith hits first home run of MLB career. It wasn't a fluke
The same thing happened to him in the big leagues.
In MLB, Keith hit .152 with zero home runs and a .399 OPS in his first 30 games, then .293 with seven home runs and a .797 OPS in his last 47 games. He has three four-hit games during that stretch, capped in July — so far — by a three-game two-hit streak. That includes three homers in his past two games.
Advertisement
"He'll have his stretches like every player does," manager A.J. Hinch said, "but I see him starting to take a deep breath after success and failure. I've seen him settle in better at getting a game plan and implementing it at-bat to at-bat. He's growing in the big leagues. It's amazing what a couple hundred at-bats can do for you."
[ MUST LISTEN: Make "Days of Roar" your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts ( Apple , Spotify ) ]
In 2024, Keith is hitting .240 with seven homers, 15 walks and 44 strikeouts across 77 games, spanning 281 plate appearances. He signed a six-year, $28.6 million contract before his MLB debut, which can turn into a six-year, $82 million deal .
Keith has leaned on Riley Greene , an energetic 23-year-old wise beyond his baseball years, for tips about his approach and swing mechanics.
Advertisement
Drafted in 2020 and 2019, respectively, they're separated in age by a mere 10 months, 15 days.
Greene, deliving an All-Star-worth appearance in 2024, is hitting .266 with 17 homers and an .868 OPS across 87 games in his third MLB season. He has a .318 batting average with a 1.025 OPS in his past 35 games, dating to May 29.
"We talk a lot about approach and swings and mechanics and stuff like that," Keith said of Greene's influence. "When I got up to the big leagues, I felt like I lost everything in my swing. I felt lost. He's a guy who's helped me build back to where my swing was last year."
"Yeah, I'll throw something out there every once in a while," Greene said of teaching Keith, "but he's pretty close to the hitting guys, and the hitting guys know what they're doing. He's just kinda doing his thing, and it's working."
Advertisement
RILEY RAKES: How Tigers' Riley Greene developed his power with new trainer Ben De La Cruz
Detroit Tigers second base Colt Keith (33) is greeted by teammates after hitting a 2-run home run in the fifth inning of the MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Detroit Tigers at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Friday, July 5, 2024.
As for Keith, he notched the sixth and seventh homers of his career Friday night. He hit a down-and-in changeup in the third inning and a middle-in sweeper in the fifth inning, both off Reds right-hander Carson Spiers .
He hit the first one 413 feet to right-center field with a 104.2 mph exit velocity. He hit the second one 415 feet to right field with a 108.8 mph exit velocity.
To celebrate, Keith admired both homers from the left-handed batter's box.
Those were much different reactions compared to when he blasted his home run in Thursday's first inning against Minnesota Twins right-hander Bailey Ober at Target Field. Keith sprinted out of the batter's box upon making contact with a middle-in slider. It took him a few steps, but he finally realized he crushed the ball 426 feet to right-center.
Advertisement
"When I feel sped up, a lot of things you'll hear is when guys hit homers, they don't know they're gone and they don't know what pitch they hit," Keith said. "That's one of the things that happened to me. I hit that slider super deep, and I didn't know if it was gone or not. I knew I hit it OK, and I know that wall is big in right field, so I better make sure I'm getting as many bases as I can."
He didn't feel sped up in Friday's 5-4 win over the Reds.
Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.
"It's part of the big leagues, in a sense," Greene said. "You're going to succeed, you're going to fail, you're going to succeed, you're going for fail. He's taking it well. It just shows how far he's come as a player, and the homers are a result of that."
Advertisement
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple , Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Colt Keith's secret in adjusting to MLB? Tips from wise Riley Greene
