The speedy and gregarious center fielder had a strong pro debut and looks primed for a big season as he moves to Double-A in 2025.
When the Tigers drafted Max Clark with the third overall pick in 2023, the decision sent Tigers fans into turmoil. He wasn’t the player most fans had settled on as their preference in that draft class and Clark wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms into the organization. A full season later, the specter of what might have been has faded and popular opinion now rests on the side of optimism for the young center fielder. Despite the slow burn nature of his development compared to a near MLB ready player like Wyatt Langford, Clark is bursting at the seams with talent and is inarguably one of the best outfield prospects the game has to offer.
A social media star and showcase darling during his high school days, Clark came to pro ball with a huge reputation. He has long been lauded for his speed and developing defensive prowess as well as his attractive lefty swing — during the predraft scouting cycle, FanGraphs described his feel as “sublime” and Perfect Game called him an “elite level hitter.”
Living up to that reputation is a steep task, and in the wrong development system, he could be pigeonholed as an old school slap-and-dash type. By their investment in him, though, the Tigers clearly indicated confidence that his athleticism can be leveraged into a well-rounded player who hits for solid average, OBP, and power. Combine that with Clark putting his speed to work in the field and on the basepaths and you have a well above average profile.
Clark appeared in just 23 games after being drafted in 2023, leaving prospect analysts with too small of a sample size to draw any statistical conclusions. Instead, his first meaningful stint in professional ball came in 2024. Between Low- and High-A, he appeared in 107 contests and thrived despite being younger than the competition at both levels.
He was one of the most effective top of the order hitters in the Florida State League during his 73 games with the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Clark was constantly being name-dropped in prospect news during that time and it felt like he really left the launchpad about a month into the season. His swing initially looked a little long and he was much more effective going the opposite way for soft singles in the early going. However, some adjustments he and the Tigers made got his timing sorted out and his swing better connected. By mid-May he was driving the ball up the gaps to all fields with more consistency and that continued throughout the rest of the season.
The center fielder finished his time in Low-A with a .286/.386/.421 line, walked nearly as often as he struck out, and went yard seven times in a hitting environment that suppresses power. Sum that performance and, according to wRC+, he was 34 percent better than the average hitter in the FSL, and just 19 years old.
Although he didn’t meet with quite the same level of success as the leadoff hitter for the West Michigan Whitecaps, Clark only slowed down a little. His walk rate dropped and the whiffs ticked up, as one would expect for a player so young. Clark, however, is physically built to take the extra base anytime he finds the open grass, and escaping the steamy Florida air did wonders for his gap-to-gap power output. He matched the number of doubles and triples he hit as a Flying Tiger in less than half the games, resulting in a matching slugging percentage despite a slightly drooping batting average.
With just 34 games played for the Whitecaps, there are still some challenges to conquer at that level. He’ll be facing pitchers who can land a breaking ball for a strike more often than what he was seeing in Low-A. That’s an area where he could use some improvement; though Clark mashes same-handed pitchers in any situation, righties carved him up with breaking balls in 2024. Per Brooks Baseball, he hit just .140 in at-bats against righties ending in a breaking ball and struck out in a full third of such situations last year.
Some bad luck could be involved, but Clark finished the year with an above-average .336 BABIP across all games. Contrast that with the .188 BABIP he recorded when hitting a righty’s breaking ball, and I’m more inclined to believe poor contact was the culprit. All this points to some trouble picking up on pitches from the opposite hand. Maybe this is just noise, but it won’t hurt to let him marinate a while longer in the low minors before throwing him to the wolves in Erie. He should be ready for that move this summer.
Prospect evaluators don’t expect to see Clark develop big time home run power, but there are some overly pessimistic views out there. His exit velocities suggest there’s a 15-20 home run hitter in Clark, and possibly a bit more. He also makes enough beautiful contact that the thump will show up from time to time in the long term. It wouldn’t be shocking to see him grow into a 20 homer hitter annually at all. Of course, he also has the force multiplier of his speed at the plate to help produce plenty of extra base power as well. Those wheels will help him turn a lot of would-be singles into doubles.
In the field, Clark has all the raw ability in the world and just needs time to refine his game. He’s not yet an average fielder in terms of pure defensive chops right now, but his quick twitch instincts and double-plus speed make up the difference. His immaturity is exposed by the occasional bad read, but again, he was playing High-A ball as a teenager last season. He’s going to improve his route running and should read balls off the bat more consistently with more reps. We expect a plus center fielder in time, though whether he can knock Parker Meadows to a corner is a different question.
2025 outlook
Clark seems destined to return to West Michigan to begin the 2025 season. Entering his age 20 season, he’ll still be younger than the average player in High-A next year. Given his track record, it’s likely but not certain that he’ll reach the Double-A level by the time the calendar flips to June. The Tigers haven’t shown signs of being extremely aggressive with younger prospects, but it’s possible that a hot start from Clark will convince the Tigers to move him up pretty quickly this spring.
Max Clark will trek through the minor leagues at the pace his offense allows. He isn’t as precocious a hitting prospect as Kevin McGonigle right now and might need more seasoning at each level, but with time there’s a good chance for an above average run producer hitting out of the leadoff spot in the Tigers’ order. The rest is just how much he can get out of his speed and defensive ability.