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WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – They’re done. They’re not done. They’re done. They’re not done.
The starter was pulled before the game to keep him unblemished for a trade. The bullpen got called in instead.
And in a minor-league ballpark in a town no one associates with baseball, the Detroit Tigers beat the Athletics 13-1, erupting for seven of those runs in the eighth inning. Oh yeah, Dillon Dingler hit another home run.
SCRATCHED STARTER: Casey Mize mired in 'weird place' with wait for MLB trade deadline
But wait, that isn’t even the story – this is: The may have another decent rookie on their hands.
Now, it’s one game. Five plate appearances. Two hours and change on the clock into Max Clark’s career, if you’re into the whole time measurement thing.
So, we say this with all due perspective: The Tigers' 2023 MLB Draft first-round pick (well, the first of them) has skills. Speed. Quickness. Power. Relative patience.
Though nerves probably helped during his first time at the plate as a big-leaguer as much as anything else. He faced six pitches. He didn’t swing at one of them.
Patience?
Sure, and a degree of caution, no doubt. But hey, it led to a walk for 2023's No. 3 overall pick. Not the loudest debut ever, but he’ll take it, and who wouldn’t? A trip to first on your first appearance in the majors?
How about a trip to first in your second appearance, too?
Clark singled to get there, reaching those hands across the plate ever so slightly and casually poking the ball the opposite way: a bloop to left.
Add in a centerfield catch on a straightaway liner in the bottom of the third – a catch he made look easier than it was – a double and RBI that gave the Detroit Tigers an insurance run in the eighth, another double in the ninth and yeah, a nice way to introduce yourself to the big leagues.
Again, it’s a single game, but the promise isn’t hard to see, and in these relatively uneasy Tigers’ times, that’s not nothing.
Neither is Clark’s classmate, Kevin McGonigle, the 2023 No. 37 pick who smacked a high fastball 415 over the center-field wall to tie the game in the third inning.
That’s not nothing either.
Nor was McGonigle’s sacrifice fly to right field in the fourth, with the bases full and one out and the rookie ahead 3-0 in the count. He could’ve taken. Many might have taken. But the rookie didn’t want to risk a double play or an eventual strikeout and got a fastball up in the zone; he hit it just deep enough that Spencer Torkelson scored without much of a play at the plate.
Savvy?
We’ve seen it all season long.
It’d be surprising to see Clark do the same.
But then who are we to say what’s possible after watching Clark in the eighth, when he lifted an easy double off the left-field wall. That’s opposite field power, by the way, and Clark acted like he flied out, because he got under it a hair more than he would’ve preferred.
Still, he got the double, his first RBI, and announced himself in a similar way that his fellow rookie pal did down in San Diego to begin the season. It wasn’t quite McGonigle’s four-hit debut, but it was close and similarly impressive. In teh process, Clark became the fourth youngest Tiger with a three-hit MLB debut, at 21 years, 221 days. (The third-youngest? McGonigle, at 21-220.)
Left-hander Tyler Holton started things off a bit shaky but got through two innings, gave up one hit, a walk, and a run. Right-hander Ty Madden took over and got through three innings, giving up a couple walks, a couple hits, and no runs.
Five innings to start. One run. Every inning pitched by nominal relievers. Who needs Casey Mize?
Wait. What?
Yeah, and lefty Drew Sommers tossed a couple scoreless innings, too, striking out three. As far as bullpen games go, it was ideal. Even left Enmanuel De Jesus pitched in, if you’ll forgive the pun, pitching a scoreless eighth and ninth.
No threat of a trade deadline scratch here, as lefty Framber Valdez faces A's righty Jack Perkins for Game 2 on Saturday (9:40 p.m., Detroit SportsNet). What version of Valdez appears is anyone's guess. But if the Tigers have any hope of regaining some of that momentum they lost in their last homestand, it would help if Valdez finds the form that earned him a big offseason free-agent deal in Detroit.
Contact Shawn Windsor: [email protected]. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Epic Max Clark debut sparks Detroit Tigers to road rout of Athletics
Continue reading...
The starter was pulled before the game to keep him unblemished for a trade. The bullpen got called in instead.
And in a minor-league ballpark in a town no one associates with baseball, the Detroit Tigers beat the Athletics 13-1, erupting for seven of those runs in the eighth inning. Oh yeah, Dillon Dingler hit another home run.
SCRATCHED STARTER: Casey Mize mired in 'weird place' with wait for MLB trade deadline
But wait, that isn’t even the story – this is: The may have another decent rookie on their hands.
At the plate: Hello, Max Clark!
Now, it’s one game. Five plate appearances. Two hours and change on the clock into Max Clark’s career, if you’re into the whole time measurement thing.
So, we say this with all due perspective: The Tigers' 2023 MLB Draft first-round pick (well, the first of them) has skills. Speed. Quickness. Power. Relative patience.
Though nerves probably helped during his first time at the plate as a big-leaguer as much as anything else. He faced six pitches. He didn’t swing at one of them.
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Patience?
Sure, and a degree of caution, no doubt. But hey, it led to a walk for 2023's No. 3 overall pick. Not the loudest debut ever, but he’ll take it, and who wouldn’t? A trip to first on your first appearance in the majors?
How about a trip to first in your second appearance, too?
Clark singled to get there, reaching those hands across the plate ever so slightly and casually poking the ball the opposite way: a bloop to left.
Add in a centerfield catch on a straightaway liner in the bottom of the third – a catch he made look easier than it was – a double and RBI that gave the Detroit Tigers an insurance run in the eighth, another double in the ninth and yeah, a nice way to introduce yourself to the big leagues.
Again, it’s a single game, but the promise isn’t hard to see, and in these relatively uneasy Tigers’ times, that’s not nothing.
Neither is Clark’s classmate, Kevin McGonigle, the 2023 No. 37 pick who smacked a high fastball 415 over the center-field wall to tie the game in the third inning.
That’s not nothing either.
Nor was McGonigle’s sacrifice fly to right field in the fourth, with the bases full and one out and the rookie ahead 3-0 in the count. He could’ve taken. Many might have taken. But the rookie didn’t want to risk a double play or an eventual strikeout and got a fastball up in the zone; he hit it just deep enough that Spencer Torkelson scored without much of a play at the plate.
Savvy?
We’ve seen it all season long.
It’d be surprising to see Clark do the same.
But then who are we to say what’s possible after watching Clark in the eighth, when he lifted an easy double off the left-field wall. That’s opposite field power, by the way, and Clark acted like he flied out, because he got under it a hair more than he would’ve preferred.
Still, he got the double, his first RBI, and announced himself in a similar way that his fellow rookie pal did down in San Diego to begin the season. It wasn’t quite McGonigle’s four-hit debut, but it was close and similarly impressive. In teh process, Clark became the fourth youngest Tiger with a three-hit MLB debut, at 21 years, 221 days. (The third-youngest? McGonigle, at 21-220.)
On the mound: Bullpen gets some extra work
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Left-hander Tyler Holton started things off a bit shaky but got through two innings, gave up one hit, a walk, and a run. Right-hander Ty Madden took over and got through three innings, giving up a couple walks, a couple hits, and no runs.
Five innings to start. One run. Every inning pitched by nominal relievers. Who needs Casey Mize?
Wait. What?
Yeah, and lefty Drew Sommers tossed a couple scoreless innings, too, striking out three. As far as bullpen games go, it was ideal. Even left Enmanuel De Jesus pitched in, if you’ll forgive the pun, pitching a scoreless eighth and ninth.
Next up: Late night with the A's, Part II
No threat of a trade deadline scratch here, as lefty Framber Valdez faces A's righty Jack Perkins for Game 2 on Saturday (9:40 p.m., Detroit SportsNet). What version of Valdez appears is anyone's guess. But if the Tigers have any hope of regaining some of that momentum they lost in their last homestand, it would help if Valdez finds the form that earned him a big offseason free-agent deal in Detroit.
Contact Shawn Windsor: [email protected]. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Epic Max Clark debut sparks Detroit Tigers to road rout of Athletics
Continue reading...
