Detroit Tigers select OF Max Clark third overall in 2023 MLB Draft

Detroit Tigers select Max Clark with third overall pick.

The 2023 MLB Draft is officially underway. The last few hours before the draft created a lot of buzz and got a little bit chaotic. But, the Pirates kicked things off, grabbing Paul Skenes with the first overall draft pick. The Nationals came in and grabbed Dylan Crews with the second overall pick, leaving the Detroit Tigers up at third.

The Detroit Tigers moved up in the draft lottery and landed the third overall pick. Plenty of names were thrown around, but the team finally figured out who they were going to settle on. The Detroit Tigers selected Max Clark with the third overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Clark, a Franklin, Indiana native, was supposedly the only player that the Tigers brought in to work out ahead of the draft. Simply put, he was undoubtedly going to be a top-five draft pick, and speculation had him as the number-one pick in some of the mock drafts ahead of the main event tonight.

The Tigers are getting a prep outfielder who shined at the high school level. He's an outfielder who has elite upside defensively. He runs exceptionally well and absolutely glides in the outfield. He can cover a lot of ground and run-down balls that are going to save outs.

On top of that, he has arm speed to pair, throwing well from the outfield as well, and being able to get it done in the outfield with supreme defensive upside. With the stick, the Tigers drafted themselves a left-handed bat with projectable traits in the batters' box.

He has projection to hit for power if all goes well with his development within the organization. He's got a ton of quick-twitch athleticism and continues to show off the frame. However, the Tigers are going to hope they can get him into the organization and continue to develop him moving forward.

On top of his on-field traits, there's a reason to be interested in Clark with his off-the-field attitude. He was referred to as a "Baseball Influencer" by the draft coverage on MLB Network. He's someone who is a proponent of growth in the game, and as someone who sees a lot of amateur baseball, there are a lot of kids that want to be like and act like Max Clark.

It's going to play a role for sure. There's plenty of reason to think that Clark could be the new face of the franchise, or one of them, that the team markets moving forward. That's the scoop on the Tigers' third overall draft pick—more analysis to come in the coming days.