DETROIT — As the Detroit Tigers attempt to stage an uphill climb back toward contention, here is a fascinating fact: Riley Greene, an outfielder who has battled injuries and fought labels, has played in every game this season.This is a double-edged sword. On one hand, Greene’s durability so far is a terrific testament to the work he has put in and the routine he has adopted to stay healthy and available.On the other hand, it’s a potential caution flag as the Tigers, in a position with little margin for error, head deeper into the long summer ahead.Talking about this newfound durability at his locker Wednesday afternoon, Greene did what most players in his position would do. He turned around and knocked on the wooden frame of his locker. These are fraught conversations to have in the middle of a season.“Obviously there’s days where the body feels better than others,” Greene said. “It’s just trying to stick to my routine every day. There’s days where I don’t want to do my routine, but I need to. I do it, and just try my best to stay healthy and stay on the field.”In the first few years of Greene’s career, he endured an unfortunate run of injuries. He fouled a ball off and fractured a foot at the tail end of spring training in 2022. That one was a freak accident.In May 2023, Greene suffered a stress reaction in his left fibula, a concerning sign of wear and tear on his young body.Later that season, he made a diving catch in the outfield, landing hard on his right elbow, and ended up tearing his UCL. Another strange occurrence.The next season, Greene got deep into the summer, finding his footing in the majors and making his first All-Star Game. But signs of fatigue soon started to show, in flailing swings and stiff trips down the first-base line. He ended up on the injured list with a right hamstring strain.Coming into last season, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch aimed to be cognizant of Greene’s playing time, building in off days or DH days. Greene, though, still played in 157 games. Although he struggled down the stretch, it was encouraging to see him handle the workload.“It’s been a great thing for us that he’s been able to weather that this last year and a half,” Hinch said. “I think getting that injury tag off of him is important. He wants to be on the field every day.”At the start of every spring, Greene has shown up to camp talking of some alteration to his routine. He has tweaked his training regimen. Before last season, he famously cut out his beloved trips to Chick-fil-A.These days, Greene says sleep has become his top priority. He recently dozed for 12 hours on an off day.“I love sleeping,” Greene said. “I try to sleep as much as I possibly can.”To the uninitiated, Greene might sound like a teenager trying to get out of a weekend chore. But it’s important to understand Greene’s affinity for sleep is actually a testament to his growth. There were times only a couple of years ago when he would head straight home after a game rather than seek treatment. He might lie in bed and scroll on his phone until 3 a.m.“Instead it’s like, ‘Hey, I’m in bed at 11, I should probably go to bed now instead of scrolling on my phone for three hours’,” Greene said.In the old days, Greene might arrive at the park and go play without much of a warmup or without partaking in his now all-important session on a foam roller.“I would just show up,” he said. “I didn’t know better.”As the injuries piled up, Greene realized he needed to be more diligent. He learned the lessons the hard way. He cut out other small vices — though he admits he still grabs the occasional meal at Taco Bell or Chick-fil-A.“Just not as much,” he said.He also made tangible investments in tools to help his recovery. The most recent is an Eight Sleep bed cooling system that adjusts to help heat, cool and track the body during sleep.“People say, ‘Hey, it doesn’t matter how much it’s going to cost. Just go get it if you’re invested,’” Greene said. “If you’re buying a recovery tool, if it’s $20,000, get it. And on the back end, if it helps you … Invest in the body and it will work out.”Greene isn’t exactly a sleep scientist. But he’s found what works for him.With all that rest, Greene has also been close to his best, correcting much of last season’s woes with chases outside the strike zone. Although his strikeout totals have slowly ticked up, he has cut his chase rate from 31.3 to 25.7 percent this year. He is taking more walks and taking more selective swings. Although his power has dipped from last season’s 36-home run pace, Greene is hitting .301 with an improved .844 OPS, likely on track for a third straight All-Star appearance.This is all great news for now. But Greene also knocked on wood for a reason. As we get deeper into the schedule and temperatures heat up, the grind isn’t slowing down any time soon. Greene’s 2024 hamstring injury is a reminder that sometimes, all that time on the field can gradually take its toll, no matter what a player’s routine or sleep habits.In a different universe, Hinch would have loved to build in a few off days for Greene by this point. Greene, though, has started 61 of his team’s first 68 games in the field. He has started at DH six times. The one game he did not start was April 17 against the Red Sox. He ended up appearing in that game as a pinch-hitter in extra innings.The Tigers’ 6-22 slide in May, partially a result of a roster battered with injuries, made Greene nearly impossible to take out of the lineup. The Tigers needed all the help they could get. Even as the order as a whole faltered, Greene hit .320 for the month.“One of the risks that comes with the injuries that we’ve had is the pressure it puts on the other guys to continue to play,” Hinch said. “If you put yourself back two weeks ago, that lineup that was struggling, it would be really hard to take him out.”The Tigers have already gotten Kerry Carpenter and Gleyber Torres back from the injured list, adding a needed boost to their lineup. The Tigers have won six of their last eight, and a recent run of off days has allowed Hinch to keep Greene on the field for games.It’s still fair to hold your breath when Greene hits the turf on an awkward dive. He is unlikely to ever become a smoother-looking runner. But once labeled as an injury risk, Greene has become one of the Tigers’ most durable assets.His team can only hope it continues.“Mentally he can do it, and physically he’s showing he can do it,” Hinch said. “It’s good to recognize that because of the difference in the first half of his career so far versus the last 24 months. I think he’s found his routine to be able to post.”