Max Clark has made a habit of turning preparation into production, and on this night in Toledo it all came together in a way that fit the way he talks about the game.
When the 21-year-old learned he was leading off, he did what he always does: went hunting for patterns. This time the target was Louisville right-hander Jose Acuna, and Clark zeroed in on how Acuna mixed his pitches, especially the first-pitch plan. Clark said he likes to study pitchers who lean on a cutter or a tough secondary slider, and he noticed Acuna “loves to throw the changeup at the first pitch of the game.”
That homework paid off immediately. Clark opened his first at-bat expecting the changeup, took it for ball one, then watched an ABS-challenged slider get overturned for ball two. After three more changeups, a swinging strike and another misplaced slider, he reached base with a walk.
The next trip to the plate brought a familiar sequence: changeups, sliders, and Clark waiting for the fastball he figured had to come. It finally did, a 91 MPH sinker, and he unloaded on it. The ball traveled 381 feet and left the bat at 107 MPH for his 10th home run of the 2026 International League season.
“As soon as it left my bat, I was like, as long as it didn’t hit the top of the wall, I knew I flushed that one pretty good,” Clark said. “It felt good, especially anytime you can turn on a heater, for me, that means I’m in a good spot.
Staying behind the ball, that’s always been my thing. The inner-half heater, if I’m smothering it to the second baseman, something’s wrong.
So being able to get that lifted in the pull side, it was up and in, that’s a good pitch to hit. I was able to do damage on it.”
That swing was also a snapshot of the bigger story with Clark in his first Triple-A season. He came in wanting to understand his weaknesses, and the numbers show he’s done exactly that. He said his ground-ball rate has dropped sharply, including over his last roughly 100 plate appearances, and he’s now sitting at a 33% ground-ball rate.
“My ground ball percentage is drastically down, especially over the last, call it 100 plate appearances,” Clark said. “I’m running a 33% groundball rate, which is insanely low for me.
That’s really low. My 107, 108, and 110’s (exit velocity) have turned from eight to 15 degrees into 15 to 30 degrees.
“That’s where I’m getting the homers.”
Clark split his 2025 regular season between High-A West Michigan and Double-A Erie, where he hit a career-high 14 home runs. But he said the way those balls are leaving the bat now looks different than it did a year ago.
“I had a lot of clipped, well-spun homers last year where I didn’t necessarily hit the ball that, quote unquote, hard,” Clark said. “It was just 99 MPH at 30 degrees with perfect spin and it’s only gone if you pull it.
Now, the one I just hit was 107 MPH at 25 degrees. The one the other day was 104 MPH at 30 degrees. The ability to pull the ball, or not even just pull, but spray it everywhere, hit it hard and hit it higher, is where the differences come for me.”
He said the hard contact was there in 2025, but too much of it was wasted on the ground.
“A vast majority of those hard-hit balls were straight into the ground,” Clark said. “Not even like low line drives or one-hops through the infield. They were hitting before the plate and rolling.
Now, my misses are the weak, soft hits,” Clark said. “When I hit it, it is in the air either to somebody or for a base, it doesn’t matter. It’s cleaner quality of contact in terms of where it’s going.”
Since last season, Clark has added about 1.5 MPH to his average exit velocity, improved his hard-hit rate against pitches at 95 MPH or higher by 5.3 percentage points and added five degrees to his hard-hit launch angle. His 13-degree average launch angle in 2026 stands above the 10-12 degree range he’s chasing, and he knows it.
Clark calls himself a “Statcast rat,” and the numbers back up the label. His launch-angle adjustment has helped cut his ground-ball rate by nine percentage points from 2025.
“I mean, he’s always been a smart kid,” a National League scout said. “Every player needs polish in something.
I think it speaks to his IQ that he understands that. Look at the numbers.
He’s getting better. It’s kind of scary, if you think about it.”
Clark sees the same thing from the other side of the plate. The higher he climbs, the more he expects pitchers to attack his weak spots instead of simply trying to get themselves over the plate.
“I think (Triple-A) is the first level where guys don’t necessarily pitch to their strengths,” Clark said. “They pitch to your weakness.
They definitely do that in the big leagues. That’s how they make their money.
That’s how people keep their jobs. They’re going to find every single weakness you have and exploit it.
“I think that being able to just think and commit to a plan is the biggest part,” Clark said. “Especially at this level.”
Early Thursday morning, that climb took another step. Clark, Just Baseball’s No. 7 prospect, was headed to the big leagues for his MLB debut. With the Tigers seven games under .500 and entering what the source described as a transitional period, Clark is expected to step in as the club’s primary center fielder, with the hope that once he grabs the job, he won’t let it go.
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