Tigers Top Prospect Bouncing Back from Ugly Spring with Dominant Start to Year
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The Detroit Tigers are not off to the best start of a season they entered with so much hope and promise to contend for their first World Series title in more than four decades.
Of course, there's plenty of season left and any slow starts can be remedied in the near future, but beyond the big leagues, it has been an incredible start to the season for one of Detroit's most high profile prospects.
Coming off a spring in which he was at the center of a ton of criticism, top prospect Max Clark was sent to Triple-A to begin the year, and despite his still young age and never having played there, he is absolutely dominating right now.
Clark Absolutely Raking in Triple-A Ahead of Tigers Debut
So far for Toledo, Clark is 13-for-34, slashing an incredible .382/.476/.559 across his first nine games of the year with six doubles and three RBI. Perhaps just as encouraging is his fielding after some struggles in spring training with a perfect fielding percentage, four outfield assists and a double play.
He certainly looks a whole lot closer to the version of himself he was when Detroit drafted him, an encouraging sign after so many fans were concerned by the spring struggles. Clark was obviously not ready for an MLB debut, but that does not mean he is not still developing into what will be a great MLB player some day soon.
If he keeps producing like this, that day could come sooner than many expected it to.
When Clark Could Actually Make Tigers Debut
While during the spring it seemed like a debut for Clark was still pretty far off, production like this certainly could accelerate that timeline. Parker Meadows looks like he has taken a step offensively so far this year, which dramatically decreases the urgency for Clark to be ready.
Still, if Clark looks like a legitimate difference maker for an offense that is struggling out of the gate in Detroit, a debut at some point this summer could very much be in the cards. Meadows is going to be among the most closely watched Tigers players over the coming months, especially if his potential replacement keeps producing.
Should things go the way they have so far over the next couple of months, it seems more likely than not that Clark will be making his big league debut by August at the latest.
Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.