Detroit Tigers Top Prospect Receives Extremely High Praise About Maturity
The Detroit Tigers have some extremely exciting young talent both already in the majors and coming up the pipeline.
But potentially at the top of the list - though he may still have a few years away from being ready to play in the big leagues - is 2023 No. 3 overall selection centerfielder Max Clark. Whenever you draft a player straight out of high school with a premium selection, it's because he has not only a supreme amount of talent, but there's probably something you like about him off the field as well.
Though Clark is just 19 years old and does not turn 20 until right before Christmas, by the sounds of it the young star is mature beyond his years. Clark has drawn the praise of High-A West Michigan Whitecaps broadcaster Dan Hasty in a recent interview with the Tiger Territory podcast.
"Max Clark is such a fascinating human being. When you spend time with Max, you don't feel like you're spending time with the average 19-20 year old. You feel like you are spending time with the face of not only the Detroit Tigers in 2-3 years, but one of the faces of Major League Baseball," Hasty said. "When you ask guys coming out of high school about goals, their answers revolve around statistics...sometimes they revolve around clichés...but you ask Max and he starts talking about setting up an LLC so he can set wheels in motion for a charity that his wife is gonna run to support and combat mental health...we've never seen anything like it."
Clark was promoted to West Michigan after having a huge 73 games in 2024 with the Single-A Lakeland Flying Tigers. In those 73 games, Clark hit .286 with an OPS over .800 and 7 home runs with 58 RBIs. His numbers understandably dipped a bit once he was promoted, but in a small 34 game sample size, that was to be expected.
He is right on track to become the next Detroit superstar, currently rated as the No. 6 prospect in all of baseball and the only player with experience below Double-A in the top-ten.
Tigers fans will love to hear the fact that by all accounts, it sounds like he has a great head on his shoulders as well.
