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Max Clark (baseball)

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Max Clark
Clark with USA in 2023
Detroit Tigers
outfielder
Born: December 21st, 2004

|birth_place = Franklin, Indiana, U.S. |bats = Left |throws = Left |debutleague = |debutdate = |debutyear = |debutteam = |statleague = |statyear = |stat1label = |stat1value = |stat2label = |stat2value = |stat3label = |stat3value = |teams = |medaltemplates= |- ! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;background-color:#eeeeee;color:inherit;" | Men's baseball

|- ! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;background-color:#eeeeee;color:inherit;" class="adr" | Representing  United States

|- ! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;background-color:#cccccc;color:inherit;" | U-18 Baseball World Cup

|- | style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;color:inherit;" | Gold medal – first place|| style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" | 2022 Sarasota-Bradenton || style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;" | Team}} Maxwell Reece Clark (born December 21, 2004) is an American professional baseball outfielder in the Detroit Tigers organization.

Amateur career

Clark began playing baseball as a child in his local Little League before he began playing travel baseball with Franklin Powerhouse and later with the Indiana Bulls, an Indiana travel team featuring alumni such as Scott Rolen, Tucker Barnhart, and Lance Lynn.[1] He committed to play college baseball at Vanderbilt University.[2]

Clark attended Franklin Community High School in Franklin, Indiana, where he played on their baseball team as an outfielder and pitcher.[3][4] He also played on their football team as a wide receiver.[5] As a sophomore in 2021, he was named the Indiana Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year after batting .450 with six home runs, thirty RBIs, and 31 stolen bases alongside pitching to a 0.84 ERA and 120 strikeouts over fifty innings.[6][7] As a junior on the football field, he caught 25 passes for 547 yards and four touchdowns.[5]

During his junior year on the baseball team, he batted .577 with nine home runs, 32 RBIs, 31 walks, and 22 stolen bases and was named the Indiana Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year for the second straight season.[8][9] That summer, he participated in the Prospect Development Pipeline League at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.[10] He also played for Team USA in the 2021 WBSC U-18 World Cup, helping lead the team to a gold medal with a .294 batting average over eight games, and played in the Perfect Game All-American Classic at Chase Field.[11][12]

Clark entered his senior year as the top high school draft prospect for the upcoming MLB draft.[13][14] He finished his senior year batting .646 with six home runs, 33 RBIs, and 45 runs scored, and was named the Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year.[15][16] He was also awarded the Gatorade Best Player of the Year, as the best high school athlete regardless of sport, joining past winners such as Kyler Murray, Bobby Witt Jr. and LeBron James.[17]

Professional career

Clark was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the first round with the third overall pick in the 2023 Major League Baseball draft.[18] On July 17, 2023, Clark signed with the Tigers for $7.7 million.[19]

Clark made his professional debut and split the season between Rookie Ball Florida Complex League Tigers and Single-A Lakeland Flying Tigers.[20] Over 23 games between both teams, he hit .224/.383/.376 with two home runs and 19 RBIs.[21] Clark was assigned to Lakeland to open the 2024 season.[22] He and Hao-Yu Lee were selected to represent the Tigers in the All-Star Futures Game at Globe Life Field.[23] On July 21, 2024, Clark was promoted to the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps after triple-slashing .286/.386/.421 through 73 games in Lakeland.

References

  1. ^ Glaspie, Akeem (May 20, 2021). "From hitting balls into a cornfield to a 95 mph fastball, Franklin sophomore is a phenom". The Indianapolis Star.
  2. ^ Glaspie, Akeem (March 29, 2022). "IHSAA baseball: 2022 IndyStar preseason Super Team features big bats, speed, high velocity". The Indianapolis Star.
  3. ^ "With golden locks and strength for days, Max Clark says baseball is in his blood". www.yahoo.com. March 30, 2022.
  4. ^ Glaspie, Akeem (March 30, 2022). "How Max Clark built himself into nation's No. 2 prospect: 'It takes a lot to be great.'". The Indianapolis Star.
  5. ^ a b Glaspie, Akeem (September 30, 2022). "Max Clark could be the No. 1 pick in 2023 MLB draft, but he isn't quitting football yet". The Indianapolis Star.
  6. ^ Beas, Mike (June 30, 2021). "Franklin sophomore named Indiana Gatorade baseball Player of the Year".
  7. ^ Staff REPORT (June 29, 2021). "Franklin sophomore named Gatorade Indiana Baseball Player of the Year". Shelby News.
  8. ^ "Max Clark 2021 - 2022 INDIANA BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR". playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.
  9. ^ Cooper, J. J. (July 25, 2022). "Max Clark's Five-Tool Skill Set Makes Him The Real Deal". www.baseballamerica.com.
  10. ^ "Clark, Jenkins discuss PDP League, Team USA and more". MLB.com.
  11. ^ Glaspie, Akeem (September 30, 2022). "He once got cut from Team USA. Now Franklin's Max Clark is hitting bombs and winning gold". The Indianapolis Star.
  12. ^ Gregg Doyel (August 27, 2022). "Doyel: Franklin's Max Clark has Grizzly Cubs football today, MLB cash tomorrow". The Indianapolis Star.
  13. ^ Ward, Tom. "Max Clark, Aidan Miller And Their Generation Will Solve MLB's Social Media Problem". Forbes.
  14. ^ "Top 20 high school prospects for '23 Draft". MLB.com.
  15. ^ "Franklin OF Max Clark wins Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year Award". The Indianapolis Star.
  16. ^ "Indiana's best prospect in decades: Max Clark picked No. 3 in MLB draft". The Indianapolis Star.
  17. ^ "Max Clark, Ava Brown Win Gatorade Player of the Year Honors". USA Today. July 12, 2023.
  18. ^ "Detroit Tigers select high school outfielder Max Clark with No. 3 pick in 2023 MLB draft". Detroit Free Press.
  19. ^ "Tigers signs Max Clark". The Detroit News.
  20. ^ "Max Clark Stats, Age, Position, Height, Weight, Fantasy & News".
  21. ^ "No. 3 overall pick Clark drills walk-off homer in Complex League". MLB.com.
  22. ^ "Where the Guardians' Top 30 prospects are starting the season". MLB.com. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  23. ^ "Tigers No. 1 prospect Max Clark, Hao-Yu Lee selected for 2024 All-Star Futures Game".
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