OF Denzel Clarke, 4th round (127th overall), Signed $700,000, Oakland A's

OF Denzel Clarke

Hometown: Pickering, Ont.

Bats/Throws: R-R

Height/Weight: 6’ 4” 190 lbs.

Scout: Dillon Tung

Slot Money: $447,400

College: Cal State Northridge Matadors.

Big interest from: Colorado Rockies.

Coach: Dave Serrano.

Past Teams: Toronto Mets, Canadian Junior National Team, Rawlings National Scout Team, Yankees Scout Team, Oshawa, Ajax/Pickering Cubs.

Past coaches: Chris Kemlo, Greg Hamilton, Ray Fagnant, Dennis Sheehan, Ken Babcock, Hyung Cho, John Haywood.

Most influential person in my baseball life, besides my mother Donna Clarke: “My uncle, Kevin Smellie. (A running back 1991 Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts).”

On other lists: Baseball America’s 18th highest prospect of top 100 in state of California … 52nd on Keith Law’s top 100 in The Atletic (May 13) ... 82nd on the top 100 draft prospects list by D1 Baseball ... 133rd on Baseball America’s top 500 list (June 15) … 83rd on Perfect Game’s combined list (Feb. 18) … Baseball America’s 18th highest prospect of top 100 in state of California … 12th on the top 100 outfielder list by D1 Baseball … 297th on Prospects Live top 500 (Sept. 10, 2020).

The Grrrr-eat Genes: Mom Donna Smellie competed in women’s heptathlon (100-metre hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-metre race, long jump, javelin throw and 800-metre) at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles finishing 17th in the world at age 19. Her career included winning the Canadian Junior heptathlon, the national senior heptathlon champ four times and Donna was a Canadian record-holder in the long jump event. Donna competed in the Commonwealth Games and won gold at the Francophone Games. Clarke is a past winner of the Harry Jerome athlete of the year award. After starting as a gymnast, Donna joined the Mississauga Track and Field Club ... Inducted into Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 ... Donna and Jenice Naylor, mother of Josh and Noah Naylor, are cousins ... Cousin Gavin Smellie participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the 4x100m relay.

Twitter Handle: @dc5_denzy

Drafted: 36th round (1,070th overall) by the New York Mets and scout Claude Pelletier in 2018.

What they are saying: “Great make up. Can struggle with hitting the breaking ball. Should be a second day guy.”

Scouting Report

Perfect Game

Clarke has a very long 6-foot-4, 190-pound build that looks like it would be just as at home on a basketball court as it is on baseball field, with long arms and legs and lots of physical projection. He’s more polished on defense now than offense, with plus speed and range in the outfield to go with a strong throwing arm. Clarke’s body can create some length in his righthanded swing but he sees the ball well and has quick hands and has shown his power potential against high-level pitching. Clarke has been well exposed to scouts this spring while playing for the Canadian National Junior team and was seen frequently last summer as well, so him being a young projectable player from Canada shouldn’t stand in his way at draft time.

MLB Pipeline

120. Denzel Clarke

AGE 21 DOB 05/01/2000

BATS R THROWS R

HT 6’ 5” WT 220

Drafted: 2018, 36th (1070) - NYM

Scouting Grades/Report

(20-80 grading scale)

HIT 45 POWER 50 RUN 60 ARM 50 FIELD 50

OVERALL 45

A toolsy high school outfielder from Ontario, Clarke played on the Canadian U-18 Junior National Team and was selected by the Mets late in the 2018 Draft. A cousin of Cleveland first baseman/outfielder Josh Naylor and prospect Bo Naylor, Clarke went on to Cal State Northridge and kind of flew under the radar for much of the 2021 season, though his loud tools started to get more attention as the spring wore on.

Clarke gets a lot of his athleticism from his mother, who was an Olympic heptathlete at the 1984 Summer Games. He’s learned to translate his plus speed on the basepaths to be an effective basestealer and to cover a lot of ground in the outfield. He did a better job this spring using his tools more consistently overall at the plate with a strikeout rate that was trending in the right direction, with plenty of raw power still to tap into. There is still some concern about the swing-and-miss, and while he punished fastballs this year, he did struggle more against spin.

A center fielder exclusively this year, Clarke does have the chance to play there because of that speed, and some scouts feel he can stay there with some tweaks with his first step and angles on fly balls, though some think it might be safer to move him to a corner given his 6-foot-5 frame. There’s some ceiling here that comes with a little risk, with some team sure to bet on the tools at the next level.

Baseball America

133. Denzel Clarke

Ht: 6-5 | Wt: 220 | B-T: R-R

Drafted: Mets ‘18 (36)

Age At Draft: 21.2

Hit: 40 | Power: 60 | Run: 60 | Field: 55 | Arm: 40

BA Grade: 45 | Risk: Extreme

A cousin of Indians outfielder Josh Naylor, Clarke starred for Canada’s junior national teams growing up and was drafted by the Mets in the 36th round out of high school. He made his way to Cal State Northridge and began to blossom as a sophomore in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season. He got off to a slow start this spring but exploded in the second half to become one of the fastest risers in the draft class. Clarke is a physical specimen at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds and has some of the best power potential in this year’s draft class. He has huge raw power that is easily plus, and he still has room to get stronger and add even more. Clarke was previously a raw hitter who swung at everything and struggled to keep his swing in sync, but he’s improved rapidly the last two years. He now stays on breaking balls, has begun walking more and is doing a better job of keeping his swinging consistent. His improvements to his approach, combined with his natural strength and leverage, give him a chance to be a fringe-average hitter. Clarke has a chance to stick in center field despite his size. He is a plus runner with good instincts and impressive athleticism. His below-average arm will limit him to left field if he has to move. Clarke’s swing still gets out of sync and he has to show he can maintain his improved approach against better competition. His power and athleticism have teams interested late on the draft’s first day or early on the draft’s second day.

Prospects Live

Clarke has an elite pro body. He beat the hell out of the ball in 2020 and the power is beginning to show. He’s got enough speed to steal some bases, and an above average arm as well.

2021 spring season at Cal State Northridge as a junior: Became the first Matador in team history to win the Big West Defensive Player of the Year award starting 38 games in centre ... Earned All-Big West Second Team honors ... Batted .324 to go with a career-high 46 hits, 30 runs, 26 walks, 25 RBIs, 11 doubles and eight home runs ... Posted a .570 slugging percentage and .445 on-base percentage ... Stole 15 bases in 17 attempts ... Raised average from .192 on Apr. 4 to .324 by season’s end ... Ranked third in the Big West in stolen bases, sixth in slugging percentage, seventh in home runs, eighth in on-base percentage and ninth in walks ... Led the team in stolen bases while ranking second in hits, doubles, home runs, RBI and walks ... Recorded 11 multiple-hit games and seven multiple-RBI games ... Hitless in 13 at-bats against San Diego … Started season hitting .353 (6-for-17) with a double, homer and four RBIs facing Cal POly ... Was 2-for-16 (.125) in four-game series against Long Beach State hitting a homer with two RBIs ... Went 2-for-19 (.105) ... He went 1-for-4 with a double against Santa Barbara ... Went 8-for-15 (.533) against Riverside hitting a double, two home runs and knocking in five runs ... He went 6-for-12 (.500) facing Cal State Fullerton with two doubles and an RBI ... Against Cal State Bakersfield he was 7-for-11 (.636) ... Next was another strong series facing UC Davis and going 9-for-16 (.563) hitting a double, a homer and plating seven runs ... He batted .333 (5-for-15) facing Hawaii with three doubles.

Honours: 2021 season _ Big West Conference Tri-Defensive Player of the Year ... All-Big West Conference Second Team … Named Preseason Big West Player of the Year by D1 Baseball ... Selected to Perfect Game all-Big West conference pre-season honors ... PG’s third-ranked prospect in Big West ... 2020 season _ Named to Big West All-Academic Team ... Earned Canadian Baseball Network all-Canadian College Second Team honors ...2018 season _ Preseason All American Canada/Puerto Rico - All Region 1st Team ... 2017 season _ Top defensive player at the U18 World Championships in Thunder Bay ... Perfect Game’s Pre-season Underclassmen All American Honorable Mention ... Under Armour All-American.

2020 spring season at Cal State Northridge as a sophomore: Took part in 15 games, with 12 starts in centre ... He led the team with a .400 batting average and in runs (12), homers (3), slugging percentage (.775), on-base percentage (.529) OPS (1.304) and stolen bases (five) ... Led Big West in on-base percentage and slugging percentage while he ranked second in stolen bases and home runs, third in batting average, fifth in total bases (31), seventh in runs and 10th in doubles (4) ... Led team with six multiple-hit games while he had three multiple-RBI games and capped the year with a 12-game on-base streak ... Drove in three runs and homered in a win at Grand Canyon ... Was 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a home run at No. 17 Central Florida ... Tripled, homered and drove in two at Gonzaga.

2019 Summer with Kokomo Jackrabbits in the Northwoods League: Hit .213 with five doubles, a homer and 10 RBIs in 31 games with .958 OPS.

2019 spring season at Cal State Northridge as a freshman: The only player to play in all 55 games making 49 starts primarily in left field and spent some time in centre ... Hit .243 with seven doubles, two triples, five home runs and 19 RBIs. Had 35 hits, scored 25 runs, 21 walks ... Slugged .424 and was second on the team with 12 stolen bases (14 attempts), tied for ninth in stolen bases ... Had 10 multiple-hit games on the year ... He hit .288 with five home runs, a .563 slugging percentage in home games ... Drove in three runs and hit his first career home run against Gonzaga ... Scored three runs and reached base three times against San Diego State ... Hit the Matadors’ first inside-the-park home run of the 21st century and homered twice for the first time in his career playing UC Santa Barbara.

2018 season _ Dominican trip: Single facing DSL Dodgers ... Doubled against DSL Blue Jays ... Singled facing DSL Mets ... Singled facing DSL Tigers ... Extended Spring: Singled facing the Astros ... Singled against Nationals ... Two hits in intra-squad game, including a double ... Two hits, including a double, with an RBI against the Twins ... Batted .240 with two doubles and an RBI ... St. Pete’s trip: Singled against first and second year Blue Jays ... Run-scoring single against the Phillies ... Run-scoring single in intra-squad game ... Singled against the Phillies ... Had two hits against the Toronto Blue Jays at Dunedin: run-scoring triple off Orlando Pascual, who was at class-A Vancouver the year before and a single off LHP Brayden Bouchey, a 33rd rounder from Louisiana-Monroe, who pitched at Vancouver in 2017 ... Batted .182 (5-for-26) with three walks, .545 OPS, eight strikeouts ... 

2017 season: World Wood Bat in Jupiter: Base hit, RBI, two stolen bases against East Cobb Astros ... Doubled and stole a base against the Dirtbags ... Hit .231 with a double, an RBI, three steals and an .683 OPS ... World 18U with Junior National Team at Thunder Bay: Hit .240 with three RBIs, .712 OPS, with 10 walks and 10 strikeouts ... Selection camp: 1-for-20 (.053) four walks, six strikeouts ... Extended Spring with Juniors: Two hits against the Braves ... Knocked in two runs hitting .214 (6-for-28) with .679 OPS ... Spring with Juniors: Doubled and drove in three runs against the Tigers ... Was 2-for-10 (.200) with a double and three RBIs.

2016 season: Fall Florida trip ... Run-scoring single facing Jays ... Single, stole second against Astros ... Played in WWBA National Qualifier ... Dominican trip: Hitless (0-for-14) with eight walks, zero strikeouts. 

2018 Ratings: Listed 383rd on Baseball America’s top 500 list (May 21, 2018) ... 440th on Perfect Game’s top 500 (May 11, 2018 ), down 149 spots ... 291st on Perfect Game’s top 500 high schoolers (Jan 31, 2018) in North America, up 45 spots ... Ranked second best high schooler in Canada by Perfect Game ... 50th ranked outfielder in North America by Perfect Game ... Ranked 334th by Perfect Game (11/6/2017).

Blake Williams: Amid the hype surrounding him, Denzel Clarke keeps his eyes on the prize

VID: Baseball Oshawa interview