Smurf's Canadian Prospect Follows for 2023...
...leading off is Denzel Clarke
Thanks for checking in to Smurf’s Canadian Prospect Follows today. As pitchers & catchers report and spring training games not all that far away, I realize I’m in a similar predicament as I was in terms of Canucks in college. Lots of players, too little time. Stupid real job getting in the way of all my fun and the job I want.
Instead of looking for teams with multiple Canadians on them, like we did for the collegiate Hosers, I am selecting 3 Canadian pitchers and 3 Canadian hitters to follow more specifically through 2023. I will also do 3 more pitchers and 3 more players that are simply personal picks I wish to follow this season and likely beyond.
We did some Prospect Pondering previously where we found a couple of unknown-to-me-anyways players to check in with during the season. As a reminder, they are pitchers Will Dion and Juan Mercedes with OF Kenedy Corona and MIF Tsung-Che Cheng being the hitters. That will give us 8 pitchers and 8 hitters we’ll be following more closely in conjunction with other player updates from the MILB landscape.
With that little preamble out of the way……let’s get into it with our first Canadian Prospect follow - DENZEL CLARKE
This is a name that you may have heard me mention before. Denzel has been on my radar for some time now. Originally from Toronto, Clarke was drafted in 2021 by the A’s out of Cal State Northridge with their 4th round selection.
Describing his family tree as athletic wouldn’t quite do it justice. His mother Donna was an Olympian in 1984 representing Canada in the Heptathlon at 19 years of age. His uncle, Kevin Smellie, played running back in the CFL, winning the Grey Cup in 1991 with the Toronto Argonauts. The Naylor’s are his cousins and his other cousin Gavin participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 4x100m relay. If you said that Denzel is the best athlete in all of the MILB, you wouldn’t get too many arguments from me.
Standing in at 6ft 5in, 220 lbs, the 22 year old would fit in on a football field or patrolling centre, like he does now. His above average speed was demonstrated with 30 stolen bases in 33 attempts in 2022. In a more unusual display of Denzel’s speed and run tool, he had an inside the park homerun in consecutive games.
What I also noticed in the second clip was that he mashed that ball to the deep part of the ballpark. His power is legitimate and you can give double-plus raw, plus in game grades pretty confidently.
Denzel Clarke Oppo HR - YouTube video from R McElhaney
The numbers back up the power with his ISO and 90th percentile EV are in plus territories and the 2022 season OBP & OPS were in good places as well. There is a lot to like about the tool set Denzel brings to the diamond.
While there is plenty to love and dream on with Denzel’s profile, the hit tool is a weakness at this time. He strikes out. A bunch. The K% is troubling. Clarke split time between A (42 G, 193 PA) and High-A (51 G, 218 PA) in 2022 and the strikeout rates were 29.0% and 36.2% respectively. Even with those rates where they are, as mentioned above, he does still get on base at an above average rate. Denzel can get overly aggressive at the plate, which causes over-swinging. More advanced pitching may be able to continue take advantage of this, we saw a jump in K% from A to High-A, unless there is further development in approach. The tool is below average at this time, 40 if you’re looking for a grade. This is where we’re looking for some improvement. Improve on the K rate while still getting on base, could allow Denzel to tap into more of that raw power in game. Very appealing for an already stacked skill set. I’d put 60’s on the other tools (power, arm, field, run) if you’re looking for grades. Baseball America currently lists Denzel as the best athlete in the Oakland A’s organization as well as its best defensive outfielder. Any improvement to the hit tool should propel Clarke through the organization.
Who Are Smurf’s 2023 Follows?
Just to review who we have so far, here are my follows for the 2023 season
Denzel Clarke, CF, Oakland
Tsung-Che Cheng, SS, Pittsburgh
Kenedy Corona, RF, Houston
Will Dion, LHP, Cleveland
Juan Mercedes, RHP, Seattle
Stay tuned for the rest. I’ll have another Canadian Prospect Follow coming up soon……
Enjoy opening weekend of D1 NCAA baseball and I’ll be talking with ya in a while. Until then, as always…..Keep It 80 Grade.