Saturday, May 24

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Max Clark has a social media following to rival some of baseball’s biggest stars, and a personality to be recognized at the World Series as a fan. But he’s not afraid of self-deprecation.

When the Tigers’ No. 2 prospect made his long-awaited Grapefruit League debut on March 7, he was a late-inning replacement for center fielder Ryan Kreidler. To his right was All-Star left fielder Riley Greene. To his left was right fielder and postseason hero Kerry Carpenter. Both were in the starting lineup, and they were getting another inning or two before being replaced.

“I haven’t thrown, I haven’t really stretched in a little bit,” Clark said. “And so I take center field, getting loose, and the first throw, I launch it over Riley Greene’s head [by] probably 40 feet. And then the ball boy is not there. So I made Riley Greene, an All-Star, run all the way to the foul pole, pick it up, throw it back. And then the next one, I short-hopped him. So, clearly very nervous at the first game.

“I stepped in the box and I felt like my legs were in cement. But I definitely progressed.”

Compare that feeling to last Friday in Bradenton. Clark and good friend Kevin McGonigle (the Tigers' No. 3 prospect) paced Detroit’s comeback with back-to-back RBI doubles in a three-run seventh inning. Both doubles came off Pirates reliever Peter Strzelecki, who has parts of three seasons in the Majors. Both went down the right-field line, and as Clark crossed home plate with a go-ahead run, he pointed to McGonigle.

“It was a really fun night,” Clark said. “It’s a blessing to go to those games regardless, and just being in that dugout learning from guys is huge. But obviously we’ll take the double, and then seeing Kevin do the same thing, that’s a look into what we want to do one, two years from now in the big leagues.”

While Spring Breakout is a showcase for baseball’s top prospects against similar competition, Clark and other Tigers prospects have been getting time with the big league club in Grapefruit League games over the last week and a half. The Tigers brought them along in games slowly but deliberately, not just to keep the big league stars from taking too many bus trips across Florida, but to give their top prospects a measured taste of Major League competition.

“It was all by design,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “They’re not finished products, and we want to make sure that they get a foundation for the start of the season. These kids are going to be playing the longest season of their lives. Little things that we can do during the spring to show them what’s ahead and give them things that they can work on is a positive.”

No wonder, then, that Clark and McGonigle were ready for the bus trip to North Port to take on Braves prospects on Sunday. In the third inning, Clark read an opportunity to turn a sinking line drive to left into a double as left fielder Max Carey tried to make a diving catch. Clark’s extra base set him up to score on a Thayron Liranzo sac fly. A half-inning later, Clark deked Braves prospect John Gil into the final out and the end of an Atlanta threat, gearing up for a throw to third before pivoting to throw behind the runner at second.

The kids are learning, and with the Major Leaguers’ help. Despite the overthrow, Greene told Clark it was his outfield and to lead the alignment. Later, as Clark prepared to face hard-throwing Orioles reliever Felix Bautista, Carpenter gave a bit of advice on what to expect at the plate.

“We talked about what I did in the Minor Leagues,” Clark said. “It’s still the same game; it’s just way faster, dudes are way more consistent, and you see the same stuff each and every night.

“The thing that Kerry said to me was, ‘You’ve seen a guy that throws 100 before, except you may or not get it in the helmet. Now these dudes are around the zone. You’ve been there, you’ve hit it before. It’s the same game, just more important games, more important outs and more important innings.'”

Happy 48th birthday to former Tigers closer Fernando Rodney, who signed this past offseason to pitch for the Hamilton Cardinals of the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) in Canada. Which former Rookie of the Year was Rodney’s first Major League strikeout victim while pitching for the Tigers in 2002?

A. Nomar Garciaparra
B. Ben Grieve
C. Eric Hinske
D. Tim Salmon

The Tigers celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at Joker Marchant Stadium on Monday, but they’ll celebrate Irish heritage at Comerica Park on Sept. 17 -- the halfway point to next St. Patrick’s Day -- when they host the Guardians in a 6:40 p.m. ET contest. A special ticket package includes a limited-edition Irish Heritage Tigers jersey in green, orange and white. For more information, click here.

D. Salmon

Rodney struck out Salmon on May 15, 2002, at Comerica Park in his fourth MLB outing. Rodney had balked in a run earlier in the at-bat.

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