Detroit, MI
Riley Greene won’t play in 2026 WBC after turning down Puerto Rico
What to make of Detroit Tigers pitching strategy in free agency
On “Days of Roar,” Evan Petzold and Chris Brown break down the Detroit Tigers’ opportunistic approach to targeting pitchers ahead of spring training.
Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene won’t participate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
The 25-year-old declined an invitation from Team Puerto Rico, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. He wanted to compete for Team USA – as he did as a teenager at the 2018 Pan-American Championships – but he didn’t receive an invitation.
He also turned down Team Puerto Rico for the 2023 WBC.
Greene is eligible to play for Puerto Rico through his mother, Lisa Greene.
“I know it would be a transition for him, being able to share the same clubhouse with a lot of Latino guys,” Carlos Beltrán, a Hall of Fame outfielder and Team Puerto Rico’s general manager, said Dec. 9 regarding his recruitment pitch. “We can be loud, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be fun.”
The WBC starts March 5 and ends March 17.
Therefore, Greene will spend all of spring training with the Tigers in Lakeland, Florida, preparing for Opening Day on March 26 against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego.
The first full-squad workout is Feb. 15 at the Tigers’ complex.
Greene – the No. 5 overall pick in the 2019 draft – has the potential to develop into a superstar player in the 2026 season after back-to-back All-Star appearances in 2024-25. He became one of 11 MLB players to hit at least 36 home runs in 2025, though he also set a franchise record with 201 strikeouts in 157 games.
Cleaning up his 30.7% strikeout rate is the best path to superstardom, but Team Puerto Rico wanted him for his proven power production.
Instead, they’ll have to find it elsewhere.
“It would be incredible,” Beltrán said. “He is a run producer. He’s very talented. I love the way he plays. He plays hard, and he has a lot of passion. I would be very excited to come out with him – because he’s a power bat.”
For the 2026 WBC, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer won’t play for Team Puerto Rico, but Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Nolan Arenado will participate. Springer and Arenado were born in the United States, but they’re eligible for both Team USA and Team Puerto Rico through family ties – just like Greene.
Arenado represented Team USA in 2017 and 2023, but Team USA didn’t invite him in 2026.
That’s why he switched to Team Puerto Rico.
“I’ve already had some pretty harsh DMs coming at me by some people,” Arenado said Jan. 27 on the “Foul Territory” show. “I had a couple of people say I’m a traitor. I’m like, ‘Listen, I didn’t get asked to play for USA.’ It’s baseball. It’s not a big deal. I’m excited to play for Puerto Rico, and if we end up playing USA, I think that’d be pretty cool.”
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Team Puerto Rico – managed by MLB legend Yadier Molina, a former teammate of Arenado with the St. Louis Cardinals – will compete in Pool A at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, alongside Cuba, Canada, Panama and Colombia. The top two teams from each of the four pools will advance to the single-elimination bracket.
The 2026 WBC championship is March 17 at loanDepot Park in Miami.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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Chickens and geese that went missing from a local nonprofit’s Detroit site were found in the backyard of a nearby home, the director of operations said Wednesday.
The Full Circle Foundation, a Grosse Point Park-based nonprofit, said more than a dozen chickens and geese were believed stolen from a chicken coop on Detroit’s east side that also features the Full Circle Edible Garden.
The nonprofit provides training and job opportunities for young people with special needs.
Neighbors who learned from news reports about the missing flock found the “chickens were being held in the backyard of a vacant home not far from the Full Circle Edible Garden,” said Stephanie DiVirgil, director of operations. She said Ribbon Farm 4-H owns the flock.
“The homeowner was contacted, and she reached out to Full Circle to confirm,” said DiVirgil. “We were able to retrieve all of the chickens and geese that were found on the property, 19 in total.”
The foundation and Ribbon Farms 4-H are working to secure the site, including cameras, fencing and lights.
“We will likely start a fundraising campaign to have these items installed,” DiVirgil said. “We’ve gotten amazing support from the community, including offers to help pay for these additional security measures.”
DETROIT (WXYZ) — Human remains were found in a furnace of an home on Detroit’s west side, the Detroit Police Department tells us.
The remains was found by an individual working on the home in the 5200 block of S Clarendon just after 11 a.m.
Anyone with information can call 313-596-2260 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-SpeakUp.
Stay with WXYZ.com for updates on this developing story.
The Detroit Police Department is investigating after a 5-year-old child was shot in the arm near a park on Tuesday.
The shooting happened at about 8:50 p.m. near the Fargo-Oaklfield Playground on the city’s west side. Police Chief Todd Bettison says the child was in front of his home riding a bike with his father supervising at the time of the shooting.
Bettison says an individual at the park fired multiple shots, striking the child. He says the boy’s father reported hearing shots and the child falling from his bike.
Bettison says the child is expected to be OK.
Bettison says the person appears to have been firing shots randomly, which he calls “problematic.” He says a person of interest is described as possibly between 15 and 16 years old and wearing a mask. He says the person is known to frequent the area.
“When you fire a weapon, what goes up must go down,” Bettison said. “To parents and everyone, know where your kids are. Juveniles should not have guns, and whether you’re an adult or a child, you should not be firing a weapon inside of the city limits.”
Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield released a statement, saying in part, “By the grace of God, this young boy will recover from his injury and is on his way home from the hospital. With that said, this incident was senseless and could have had a much more tragic ending.
“Every child in Detroit deserves to feel safe riding their bike, playing outside, and simply being a child in their own neighborhood. We cannot accept a reality where our children are placed in harm’s way because someone chose to recklessly fire a gun.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-Speak Up.
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