Detroit Tigers Draft Pick Max Clark Honored at ESPY Awards

Detroit Tigers draft pick Max Clark was honored at the 2023 ESPY Awards for winning the National Gatorade Player of the Year award.

This past weekend, the Detroit Tigers selected Indiana high school outfielder Max Clark with the No. 3 overall pick in the MLB Draft.

On Wednesday, Clark was honored at the 2023 ESPY Awards ceremony for being named the National Gatorade Player of the Year.

Here's a look at a portion of Clark's draft profile from MLB.com: 

Clark is the best prospect to come out of Indiana since Bryan Bullington went No. 1 overall in 2002 and the state's best prepster ever. Gatorade's National Baseball Player of the Year, he's a viable candidate for the Pirates with the top pick. Besides his physical ability, he has excellent makeup and a penchant for rising to the occasion, such as when he provided a clutch homer against Canada and three hits in the gold medal-winning game against Taiwan at the 18-and-under World Cup in September.

Clark has four tools that grade as at least plus, starting with his hitting ability, which some evaluators rate as plus-plus. He has a sweet left-handed swing and a mature approach that focuses on smoking line drives from gap to gap. He presently concentrates on making hard contact rather than launching balls, but his bat speed and projectable strength should translate into at least 20-homer power that he already hints at in batting practice. 

While Clark is several years away from the majors, he joins an organization that has an infusion of young talent in it already. Previous No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson and young outfielder Riley Greene make up a strong position player nucleus, and the team has spent several high draft picks recently on pitching, including Casey Mize and Matt Manning.

Detroit is 39-50 and in third place in the American League Central.

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