FORT LAUDERDALE — It could have been the cleat that was caught on something in the batter’s box. It could have been a hitch in his swing that left his knee exposed to too much torque. It could have been a conspiracy of both. But whatever the cause, shortstop Tyler Greene calls the events that ripped his knee cap out of place a fluke, a “freak” accident.

And now, he happily says, it’s forgotten.

Greene, 24, has arrived in Triple-A this season, all but making up for time lost to injury and inconsistent play. The Cardinals drafted the Georgia Tech alum with the 30th overall pick in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft. They were prepared to take him 28th overall, and paid for that plan.

As the first round developed that day, the Cardinals felt they could get Greene with the 28th pick and some high school center fielder from a small town in Alabama with the 30th pick. Florida was the wild card. Before making the 28th pick, the Cardinals received word that the Marlins were also considering that small-town outfielder, so the Cardinals reversed picks — they took Colby Rasmus 28th (the pick the Cardinals received for Edgar Renteria signing with Boston, FYI) and nabbed Greene with the 30th pick. Yet, because of the original plan, the Cardinals had an agreement with Greene for the 28th-spot’s bonus.

Greene got a higher bonus that Rasmus.

Rasmus has received more of everything since.

In his first full pro season, Greene stepped back to slingshot forward. The Cardinals put him in Low-A Quad Cities after he had finished 2005 with High-A Palm Beach. Greene hit .287 with 15 homers and 47 RBIs at Quad Cities, but he struggled overall at Palm Beach, hitting .224. He struck out 155 times that summer in 491 at-bats. But he also had a 20-30 season — hitting a total of 20 homers and stealing 33 bases in 36 attempts.

Speed was his game. Power was developing. The ingredients of a top prospect were there, if not yet the results.

Then he wrenched his knee.

In his first at-bat of a Double-A game on July 7, 2007, Greene swung and his knee buckled. His right kneecap had been ripped loose and shifted in his leg. Things started to unravel, rehab loomed and it took about a year for him to regain his footing. He started slow this season, hitting .222 at the All-Star break in Class AA. Then he took off. He became more consistent at the plate, more confident in the field and more aggressive with his speed. He hit .328 after the break for Springfield (Mo.) and he left an 18-game hitting streak behind when promoted to Triple-A.

After sliding to its fringes, he’s back on the prospect radar. He still strikeouts out a bunch, but his legs are back churning, his defense is improved and he’s got a shot at his second 20-20 pro season.

Though I am writing this entry from Fort Lauderdale, where Greene was born, that is just a happy geographic accident. I caught up with Greene in Memphis last weekend — while on the Adam Wainwright beat — and talked with him about the knee, the .303 average so far in August, the need for speed (79 for 91 on steals in his career), and whether he feels he’s back on the pace set by his first-round pick. We talked while he hunched over a trashcan in the Redbirds clubhouse nibbling on a Drumstick ice cream cone.

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Twelve questions with Tyler Greene

DG: I imagine most of it is being healthy, but this seems to be the year that you’ve gotten to the level that you’ve been shooting for and are back on track.

TG: Yeah. The biggest thing has been the health. The knee - that was a big adjustment early in the season. May, June, that’s about when I thought I got back that trust factor, where I could make certain moves, do certain things without thinking about it or worrying if it was going to give out again.

The other thing too is, as far as a hitting standpoint, is really getting consistent with my separation of my hands. That’s been the biggest factor for me - just being consistent with it. Getting to a rhythm where I keep my hands in that spot every time.

DG: You mean the separation of your hands from your body?

TG: Yes. Just getting them in a good spot to hit consistently.

DG: Were you pretty high up before?

TG: No. It’s just finding that good spot, where you can throw them from, right at the ball. That’s been a big thing for me is to get them there at a consistent level. Early in the season, sometimes they would get there, sometimes they wouldn’t. Finally got to a point where I could get them there every at-bat, every pitch.

DG: Speed was a big part of your game, especially in college, so with the knee is that the kind of “trust factor” you’re talking about? How much of that is back?

TG: I feel, since June, like the injury never happened. It’s at that point where I don’t think about it, I don’t remember it. It’s almost like it never happened. My body feels back to where it was before the injury.

DG: I am trying to remember the story right and I may have it wrong, so please forgive me and please correct me. Was there something about your swing that was putting a lot of stress on the knee, or concern about how you could injure your knee again because of your swing?

TG: It was kind of a little bit of both - a little bit of a freak thing and a little bit of the swing. Before, I would keep a lot of weight on my backside. At that time, I think it was just - I think a fair thing would to say it was a little bit of both. My spike got caught. With that added weight, it gets caught like and something bad can happen. That was something I worked on during the offseason, was getting weight off that backside and through the swing. That’s helped. That’s helped, too. I am able to get that weight transfer through the swing and not have it sitting on the back leg there.

DG: How has Triple-A been for you?

TG: Overall, it’s been good. Took me a couple games to get comfortable. The pitching is a little different, of course. The pitchers here are going to come inside, and they’re going to throw all of their pitches for strikes.

Matthew Scherer: Your ice cream cone is going to melt.

TG: Yeah, I know.

DG: He’s being polite. It’s not too often I get to interview a guy over a trashcan.

MS (motioning toward my notebook): Is that American writing, or no?

DG: American writing?

MS: Is that shorthand, or no?

DG: No. It’s just my own. Whatever I’ve created over time.

MS: It’s like your own little shorthand?

DG: Yep. Want to try to read it? (Scherer shakes his head, and it’s back to asking Greene questions.) Did you feel any anxiety entering Double-A this year? Did you have the feeling that you’ve been at one level too long, or that you were itchy to move, to catch up?

TG: No, not really. To be honest I kept all of that stuff out of my sight, out of my mind. I didn’t pay attention to any of that stuff. I went into this season looking to be comfortable with the knee and to have a good year, a solid year. I kept that focus throughout the season. Right there in the middle, started to take off. I wasn’t worried about all of those outside factors. I was looking at trying to get better, trying to get consistent, trying to improve my game and put up a good, solid season.

DG: Do you feel more consistent defensively?

TG: I think so. Since about the same time …

DG: Does it go back to the health?

TG: Yeah, about the same time, I got back to where I was as far as range-wise, comfort, being able to get to the backside, everything. Obviously, just improving the little things throughout the season, just to get better and better throughout the year.

DG: It’s been described that the throws are a little more consistent …

TG: Yeah.

DG: You had a lot of athleticism coming in and that carried you. Now it’s more controlled.

TG: Yeah.

DG: Do you feel being here, being at Triple-A that you’ve made up for the time lost to injury, that you’re - for lack of a better phrase - back on pace?

TG: I’m not sure you can think like that. The idea is to get better and better and better every year and see where that takes you. It definitely feels good to be here, to have made it to this level this season because you can’t ignore that you’re only one step away. It’s impossible not to think about that. But you can’t be focused only on that. You have to take it as it comes. I’m at a point where I feel comfortable. Now, I just think about getting better.

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