Max Clark Talks Hitting

Max Clark is among the top position player prospects in baseball. Three years removed from being drafted third overall by the Detroit Tigers out of the Indiana’s Franklin Community High School, the left-haded-hitting 21-year-old outfielder has been described by our prospect team as having “a mature blend of tools and skills that belie his young age,” as well as a “feel to hit [that] stands out.” Clark is currently holding his own as one of the youngest players in Triple-A. Over 310 plate appearances with the Toledo Mud Hens, he has 22 extra-base hits, including six home runs, to go with a .264/.346/.394 slash line and a 100 wRC+.

In the latest installment of our Talks Hitting series, Clark discusses his approach at the plate, as well as developmental strides he has made since coming to pro ball. My conversation with the 60-FV prospect took place prior to Wednesday’s Mud Hens game in Worcester, Massachusetts.

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David Laurila: How would you describe yourself as a hitter?

Max Clark: “I’m definitely a feel-for-hit guy. I have developed more power over the last couple years, obviously from growing up, but also from understanding where to do damage on which pitches and in which counts. Overall, I’m just going to hit. I’m going to put the ball in play. I hate striking out; I absolutely despise it. So, I want to put the ball in play and let my speed tool work, steal bases, cause chaos. But when I get a pitch in the damage zone, I’ll take a rip.”

Laurila: What exactly do you mean by feel for hit?

Clark: “I try to be handsy when I need to, and powerful when I need to. Whatever the game calls for at the time.”

Laurila: Is that how you’ve always approached hitting? For instance, would you have described yourself in much the same way prior to pro ball?

Clark: “Absolutely, although I was even more of a handsy hitter when I first got drafted. I didn’t really know how to pull the ball in the air, didn’t really know how to elevate the ball all that well. Over the last two years, I’ve cut my groundball rate down by probably 10% overall. The exit velos have always been there. I have some good EV 90s and max EVs in terms of percentiles, I just had to learn how to lift the ball. Now those groundballs I was hammering are turning into line drives, and the line drives are turning into gap homers. The development process is fun. It’s been awesome to dive into myself as a hitter, to understand what I can do, and what I need to do, on the field.”

Laurila: Do you have to choose between being a handsy hitter and being able to drive the ball in the air, or can a hitter be both?

Clark: “I think you can be both. Kevin McGonigle and JJ Wetherholt are great examples. Both of those guys are low punchout/high walk. They don’t swing and miss when they get their pitch, they turn and burn. Kevin has been outstanding in the big leagues this year. He and JJ are probably the two Rookie of the Year winners. Those guys are all-encompassing hitters. They can do it all. They’re going to put the ball in play, and do damage when they can. That’s kind of what I want to follow.”

Laurila: Which of the two are you most similar to?

Clark: “I think I would have to go… I think I’m closer to JJ. Kevin is in a stratosphere of his own. I mean, he’s probably already a top five player in the American League at 21 years old. It’s hard to compare yourself to a guy like that, whereas JJ is still… like I said, he’s going to be the Rookie of the Year, and he might be an All-Star. But we have very similar tool sets. We have the ability to hammer the ball and to take our walks. But again, Kevin is on another level. He just hammers the ball. I would put JJ and me more hand in hand.”

Laurila: Which adjustments that have allowed you to drive the ball in the air more consistently?

Clark: “It’s a combination of things. Some of it is pitch selection, understanding where the pitch starts and where to swing on pitches. The levels have gotten harder each and every year. Guys obviously have better stuff, so finding the bottoms of sweepers, finding the bottoms of left-on-left sinkers, which are one of the hardest pitches to hit as a left-handed hitter. But finding different ways to elevate the ball.

“There are also mechanical, and biomechanical, changes that need to be made and understood. Body positioning over the plate, holding the ground better, controlling your move and turning behind the ball rather than having a super flat VAA [vertical approach angle] towards it.”

Laurila: Which among the mechanical adjustments you’ve made is most notable?

Clark: “They all kind of blended, but I needed to stay on my back side a little bit longer. I had a very fast and heavy forward move that caused me to collapse, rip out early, and smother the ball. That’s where the negative VAAs came from. Being in a better position over the plate, staying on my back side, and turning behind the baseball have allowed the lift to happen.”

Laurila: Is there such a thing as a perfect swing?

Clark: “Any A-swing, for any hitter, is your perfect swing — just being able to get off the most dominant cut you can, trying to impact the baseball. At the same time, I think I have two swings. I have my A-swing, where I’m trying to elevate and damage baseballs, and then I’ll have my two-strike swing where I’m just trying to put the ball in play, especially with runners in scoring position and I’m trying to move them over. That said, while I’m more damage-minded with my A-swing, it’s not as though I’m not looking to do damage with two strikes. You’re going to get breaking balls over the middle. Pitchers are going to make mistakes, and you have to take advantage of that.

“I like to push the fastball back with two strikes. I want to push it deep, because on heavy off-speed counts… with all the analytics we have now, we know which pitches guys want to go to. Maybe they love their slider with two strikes, or they love their splitter with two strikes. You need to be ready for that, so I’m going to push that fastball deep and rely on my hands to hit it the other way. If they do go offspeed, I’ll pull it. But overall, I’m trying to get the ball out in front of the plate and do damage, especially early in the count.”

Laurila: By pushing it deep, I assume you mean letting the ball travel?

Clark: “Yes. That’s where being a handsy hitter comes into play. I can trust my hands to do that. I feel like I have elite bat-to-ball and pitch recognition skills that allow me to be confident with two strikes, no matter who is on the mound.”

Laurila: Are you satisfied with your walk and strikeout rates this year (10.5% and 15.2%, respectively)?

Clark: “I would like to walk a little bit more, but I am satisfied with the K. I’m actually K-ing at the lowest rate of my career, and I’m doing it at the highest level I’ve been at. I don’t know how big of a stat put-away percentage is amongst the FanGraphs group, but I know that mine is really low. I’m trying to make guys make more than one pitch with two strikes. Again, I don’t like to strike out. I’d rather do anything but that, to give myself a chance.

“And I would like to walk more. At the same time, I’m slugging a little bit more, especially this month. I’m being aggressive on hanging breaking balls and heaters that are in the heart of the plate. Before, I’d been passive to a fault. I would get myself in two-strike counts because I didn’t want to swing at spin too early, or at something that was kind of on the edge but also not too far off the heart. This level has exposed that. You have to go early if they give you a pitch you can do damage on. There are a lot of locations that I feel I can do damage on.”

Laurila: Circling back to mechanics, I saw a simple toe tap while watching you take batting practice. What is the story behind that?

Clark: “That’s the change we were talking about previously, controlling the forward move. I was a leg-kick guy when I first got drafted, all the way through last year. This offseason I went to the toe tap to tone down the move, make it a little more simple and under control, and help me stay on my back side. It’s been great. I’m hitting the ball harder, because I’m behind it. It was a good adjustment that was needed. There are times where I’m still getting comfortable with it, though; I only have about 300 plate appearances this year. It’s taken awhile, but I’m definitely more comfortable than I was in the first month. At times, I was lunging for the ball because I wasn’t staying back on the toe tap.”

Laurila: To close, which metrics are most important to you when looking at your hitting data?

Clark: “Chase rates and whiff rates. As long as they’re low, I’m in a good spot; I know that my pitch recognition skills are taking over. And then just keeping the ball off the ground. I’m not super bought in on the pull-air stuff, because I do pull the ball in the air well. I don’t have to grind to get the ball over there. I know that when I get a pitch over the heart, I can hit the ball to right in the air. So, it’s really more about keeping it off the ground and trusting my gap-to-gap power.”

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Earlier “Talks Hitting” interviews can found through these links: Jo Adell, Jeff Albert, Greg Allen, Nolan Arenado, Aaron Bates, Jacob Berry, Alex Bregman, Bo Bichette, Justice Bigbie, Cavan Biggio, Charlie Blackmon, JJ Bleday, Bobby Bradley, Will Brennan, Jay Bruce, Triston Casas, Matt Chapman, Michael Chavis, Garrett Cooper, Gavin Cross, Jacob Cruz, Nelson Cruz, Paul DeJong, Brenton Del Chiaro, Josh Donaldson, Brendan Donovan, Donnie Ecker, Rick Eckstein, Drew Ferguson, Justin Foscue, Michael Fransoso, Ryan Fuller, Joey Gallo, Paul Goldschmidt, Devlin Granberg, Gino Groover, Matt Hague, Andy Haines, Mitch Haniger, Bryce Harper, Robert Hassell III, Austin Hays, Nico Hoerner, Jackson Holliday, Spencer Horwitz, Rhys Hoskins, Eric Hosmer, Jacob Hurtubise, Tim Hyers, Walker Jenkins, Connor Joe, Jace Jung, Josh Jung, Jimmy Kerr, Heston Kjerstad, Steven Kwan, Shea Langeliers, Trevor Larnach, Doug Latta, Dillon Lawson, Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis, Evan Longoria, Joey Loperfido, Michael Lorenzen, Mark Loretta, Gavin Lux, Dave Magadan, Trey Mancini, Edgar Martinez, Don Mattingly, Marcelo Mayer, Kevin McGonigle, Hunter Mense, Owen Miller, Paul Molitor, Colson Montgomery, Tre’ Morgan, Ryan Mountcastle, Cedric Mullins, Daniel Murphy, Lars Nootbaar, Logan O’Hoppe, Vinnie Pasquantino, Graham Pauley, David Peralta, Luke Raley, Julio Rodríguez, Brent Rooker, Thomas Saggese, Anthony Santander, Drew Saylor, Nolan Schanuel, Marcus Semien, Giancarlo Stanton, Spencer Steer, Trevor Story, Fernando Tatis Jr., James Tibbs III, Spencer Torkelson, Mark Trumbo, Brice Turang, Justin Turner, Trea Turner, Josh VanMeter, Robert Van Scoyoc, Chris Valaika, Zac Veen, Alex Verdugo, Mark Vientos, Matt Vierling, Luke Voit, Anthony Volpe, Joey Votto, Ryan Waldschmidt, Christian Walker, Jared Walsh, Jordan Westburg, Jesse Winker, Bobby Witt Jr. Mike Yastrzemski, Nick Yorke, Kevin Youkilis