It turns out Scott Harris was right about Tigers' situation with Max Clark

Kevin McGonigle Watch ended before it even began for Detroit Tigers fans after they called up their top prospect at the start of the regular season. He’s gone on to be a revelation, so prospect watchers turned their attention to Max Clark. While it has seemed like the Tigers have been too reluctant to call him up at times, Clark’s recent slump in Triple-A proves Scott Harris' caution right.

Harris, Detroit’s president of baseball operations, said not too long ago that Clark was not quite ready for the big leagues. It seemed a bit odd, since Clark got off to a sizzling start to the season and was hitting .356/.437/.525 through his first 15 games. He's cooled off considerably as of late though, hitting .167/.255/.190 over the last two weeks.

His overall numbers on the season are .268/.345/.378 with one home run and 12 runs batted in along with nine stolen bases. He’s struck out 21 times and walked 16 times. 

Scott Harris suddenly looks smart for keeping Max Clark in the minors

Obviously, teams don’t really want to call up prospects when they’re slumping. If they’re struggling in the minors, there’s a decent chance they will get eaten alive by big league pitching, so Harris and Co. are probably wise to let Clark work through his slump before calling him up. He is just 21 years old, after all, so there needn’t be any rush to get him to the big leagues until he’s fully ready.

There was some thought that he could get elevated to the big league team after Parker Meadows got injured, but that didn't happen. It seemed like a possibility again after the Javy Báez injury, but again, the Tigers waited. It would have made some sense to at least give him a little taste of the big leagues to fill in for an injured player and then send him back down whenever they got healthy, but the Tigers probably don’t want to call him up just to sit on the bench.

There's incentive for the Tigers to withhold him until later in the season, too. If they call him up August, he'll still be eligible for Rookie of the Year consideration in 2027.

Drafted No. 3 overall by Detroit in 2023, the same year the Tigers drafted McGonigle in Comp Round A, Clark has been a fascinating guy to watch in the minors. He’s not quite as good of a hitter as McGonigle although they profile similarly as contact hitters with occasional pop. Still, Clark’s walk rate has been impressive, as he drew 94 free passes in the minors last year while striking out 90 times.

Clark could definitely still help the team with his speed and defense. He can play all three outfield positions quite well, and could wreak some havoc on the bases. He doesn’t necessarily have to be hitting the snot out of the ball to make an impact.

Still, patience can oftentimes be the best practice with prospects. Harris probably knows what he’s doing and he wants to wait for the right time to call up Clark when he’s fully ready. The Tigers made the right call with McGonigle, so they deserve the benefit for the doubt when it comes to Clark.

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