Scouting Report

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Scouting grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 50 | Run: 70 | Arm: 65 | Field: 60 | Overall: 60

Clark is the best prospect to come out of Indiana since Bryan Bullington went No. 1 overall in 2002 and the state's best prepster ever. Gatorade's National Baseball Player of the Year, he's a viable candidate for the Pirates with the top pick. Besides his physical ability, he has excellent makeup and a penchant for rising to the occasion, such as when he provided a clutch homer against Canada and three hits in the gold medal-winning game against Taiwan at the 18-and-under World Cup in September. 

Clark has four tools that grade as at least plus, starting with his hitting ability, which some evaluators rate as plus-plus. He has a sweet left-handed swing and a mature approach that focuses on smoking line drives from gap to gap. He presently concentrates on making hard contact rather than launching balls, but his bat speed and projectable strength should translate into at least 20-homer power that he already hints at in batting practice. 

Clark is a double-plus runner and his quickness makes him an asset on the bases and in the outfield. The Vanderbilt is a no-doubt center fielder who enhances his physical ability with his reads and routes. He also has a well above-average arm that produces fastballs clocked up to 97 mph when he takes the mound. 

Video scouting report »

Scouting grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 50 | Run: 70 | Arm: 60 | Field: 60 | Overall: 60

In a 2023 Draft class loaded with collegiate stars Paul Skenes, Dylan Crews and Wyatt Langford at the top, Clark was the first high schooler selected when he went third overall to the Tigers. He signed for below slot at $7.7 million, and Detroit used some of the savings to bring Kevin McGonigle into the fold 34 picks later. The Indiana native Clark has been a steady performer in his first two full seasons, most recently hitting .271/.403/.432 with a career-high 14 homers and a 90/94 K/BB ratio over 111 games at High-A and Double-A in 2025. He is a two-time Futures Game participant and was a postseason All-Star in both the Florida State ('24) and Midwest ('25) Leagues.

Batting from the left side, Clark raised his hands and opened his stance in his second full season, alterations that allowed his bat to stay in the zone longer and helped him to elevate better on contact. Aided by good bat speed, his flyball rate jumped nine percentage points as a result, and he projects for closer to average pop now. His discipline and swing decisions have remained plus as he’s moved to the upper Minors, giving him a true table-setter profile.

Clark can explode out of the box. His plus-plus speed also helps make him a superb defensive centerfielder, even with some room for growth in terms of his timing. His plus arm strength gives other teams plenty to think about, too. He should stick up the middle, though he’d be plus-plus if he ever needs to move to a corner. Those conversations are still a ways off because of the way his increased in-game pop has added a few extra feet to the height of his All-Star centerfielder ceiling.

Video scouting report »

Scouting grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 50 | Run: 70 | Arm: 60 | Field: 60 | Overall: 60

Clark was a standout on the local (2023 Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year) and international (2022 18-and-under World Cup champion) fronts as an amateur. The Tigers selected him third overall in 2023 and inked him to a below-slot $7.7 million deal that helped them select and sign Clark’s Team USA teammate Kevin McGonigle. The Hoosier Stater was a solid performer in his first full season, picking up Florida State League All-Star and Top Prospect honors after slashing .286/.386/.421 with seven homers and 26 steals in 73 games with Single-A Lakeland. He finished out his age-19 campaign with a solid 34-game turn at High-A West Michigan.

The left-handed hitter is hit-over-power at this still-early age of his development. He ran solid contact rates against most pitch types (save for the slider) in the FSL and generally didn’t chase much, leading to healthy walk and strikeout rates. His exit velocities were around average for the level, and his power didn’t quite pop in terms of slugging numbers due to a high ground-ball rate. Just entering his 20s, Clark has already added strength from his amateur days, and if he adds a little more loft as part of that trajectory, there’s the potential for at least average power.

The 6-foot outfielder can really fly with plus-plus run times and regularly exceeds 30 ft/sec Sprint Speeds when in front of Statcast, as he was in the FSL. It should be no surprise that he has played center field exclusively in the pros with that speed, and his plus arm strength gives him another weapon, having been recorded with an outfield throw as high as 98.1 mph. (Detroit Major Leaguers topped out at 96.2 from the grass in 2024.) Clark’s power could be what determines whether he’s a very good player or a true superstar.

Video scouting report »

Scouting grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 50 | Run: 70 | Arm: 65 | Field: 60 | Overall: 60

After helping the U.S. capture the gold medal in the 18-and-under World Cup, Clark was the 2023 Gatorade National Player of the Year out of Indiana after hitting .646/.808/1.215 during his senior campaign at Franklin Community HS in the spring. The Tigers selected him third overall, making him the Hoosier State’s highest-ever pick as a position player. They signed him below slot at $7.7 million, allowing the club to add Kevin McGonigle and Paul Wilson later in the process. Clark steamrolled through the Florida Complex League (.283/.411/.543 in 12 games) before getting a quick look at Single-A Lakeland, where he walked 12 times in 11 games but did little else offensively.

The 6-foot-1 outfielder seized the attention of early Detroit evaluators with plus-plus speed that immediately made him one of the most athletic players on any field he took, and his arm strength -- he was clocked up to 97 mph off the mound as a prepster -- gave him another asset on the defensive side. At the plate, he proved to be selective with his swings, rarely expanding the zone against low-level arms, and his left-handed swing played well to all fields. He might need some time to adjust to velocity, but the approach and physical tools are advanced enough that modification should come in time.

That gives Clark four plus-to-double-plus tools. The only question that remains is his power. His early exit velocities in the Florida State League didn’t stand out in a small sample, and Clark is close to being maxed out physically, even at a young age. He still has the bat speed to get to more pop and push his gap doubles over the fence, and if that happens, he has the five-tool potential on which dreams are built.

Scouting grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 50 | Run: 70 | Arm: 65 | Field: 60 | Overall: 60

Clark is the best prospect to come out of Indiana since Bryan Bullington went No. 1 overall in 2002 and the state's best prepster ever. Gatorade's National Baseball Player of the Year, he was considered a potential No. 1 pick himself before going to the Tigers at No. 3 and signing for $7.7 million. Besides his physical ability, he has excellent makeup and a penchant for rising to the occasion, such as when he provided a clutch homer against Canada and three hits in the gold medal-winning game at the 18-and-under World Cup in September. 

Clark has four tools that grade as at least plus, starting with his hitting ability, which some evaluators rate as plus-plus. He has a sweet left-handed swing and a mature approach that focuses on smoking line drives from gap to gap. He presently concentrates on making hard contact rather than launching balls, but his bat speed and projectable strength should translate into at least 20-homer power that he already hints at in batting practice. 

Clark is a double-plus runner and his quickness makes him an asset on the bases and in the outfield. The former Vanderbilt commit is a no-doubt center fielder who enhances his physical ability with his reads and routes. He also has a well-above-average arm that produced fastballs clocked up to 97 mph when he took the mound.

Awards

Baseball America High Class A All-Star

Year	Team
2025

Baseball America Minor League All-Star

Year	Team
2025

MID Post-Season All-Star

Year	Team
2025

FSL Top MLB Prospect

Year	Team
2024

FSL Post-Season All-Star

Year	Team
2024

Futures Game Selection

Year	Team
2024

FSL Player of the Week

Week	Team
05/26/2024

Transactions

Team	Date	Transaction
	02/12/2026	Detroit Tigers invited non-roster CF Max Clark to spring training.
	07/15/2025	Erie SeaWolves activated OF Max Clark from the temporarily inactive list.
	07/11/2025	American League Futures activated OF Max Clark.
	07/11/2025	Erie SeaWolves placed OF Max Clark on the temporarily inactive list.
	07/07/2025	OF Max Clark assigned to Erie SeaWolves from West Michigan Whitecaps.
	03/07/2025	CF Max Clark assigned to Detroit Tigers.
	03/06/2025	activated OF Max Clark.
	07/21/2024	OF Max Clark assigned to West Michigan Whitecaps from Lakeland Flying Tigers.
	07/12/2024	OF Max Clark assigned to American League Futures.
	03/07/2024	Detroit Tigers Prospects activated OF Max Clark.
	08/24/2023	OF Max Clark assigned to Lakeland Flying Tigers from FCL Tigers.
	08/24/2023	Lakeland Flying Tigers activated OF Max Clark.
	07/29/2023	OF Max Clark assigned to FCL Tigers.
	07/17/2023	Detroit Tigers signed OF Max Clark.
	06/07/2023	OF Max Clark assigned to College Workout.
	05/06/2023	OF Max Clark and assigned to High School Workout.
	08/24/2022	OF Max Clark assigned to USA Baseball 18U National Team.
	07/01/2022	High School Workout activated OF Max Clark.
	07/01/2022	OF Max Clark assigned to High School Workout.
	07/01/2022	High School Workout activated OF Max Clark.
	09/23/2021	OF Max Clark and assigned to American.