Tiger Cubs (notes on the minors)

[RatkoVarda]

Mudhens open with a 5-2 road loss.

I know pitcher injuries are unavoidable, but so far at Toledo and Det it is already 16 guys down. It feels like a lot.

Tim Naughton    Injured 60-Day    
Joe Ruzicka    Injured 60-Day    
Phil Bickford    Injured 7-Day    
Dugan Darnell    Injured 7-Day    
Scott Effross    Injured 7-Day    
Preston Howey    Injured 7-Day    
Jake Miller    Injured 7-Day    
Tyler Owens    Injured 7-Day    
Colin Poche    Injured 7-Day    
Troy Watson    Injured 7-Day    

Sawyer Gipson-Long    15-day
Bailey Horn    15-day
Reese Olson    60-day
Beau Brieske    60-day
Troy Melton    60-day
Jackson Jobe    60-day

[RaceDog]

After watching M Clark last year and so far this year (ST and 1 AAA game)....I don't see the hype. I couldn't care less about the gold chain and his social media, but I see a lot of K's and weak ground balls.  What am I missing?

[4hzglory]

4 minutes ago, RaceDog said:

After watching M Clark last year and so far this year (ST and 1 AAA game)....I don't see the hype. I couldn't care less about the gold chain and his social media, but I see a lot of K's and weak ground balls.  What am I missing?

400 plus obp -2 walks last night.  Moderate power 15-20 HR, plus to plus plus speed

[gehringer_2]

10 minutes ago, RaceDog said:

After watching M Clark last year and so far this year (ST and 1 AAA game)....I don't see the hype. I couldn't care less about the gold chain and his social media, but I see a lot of K's and weak ground balls.  What am I missing?

Still, not sure why they started him at AAA when he only had 41 games at AA and struggled there most of August before having a better Sept. That's SSS to prove he had mastered the level though.  Always easier to bring a guy up than have to send him back down.....

He's always had a very high GB rate though - something he's going to have to fix at some point.

Edited Saturday at 05:35 PM by gehringer_2

[RaceDog]

I get the walks and the plus speed, but I am not seeing the hit tool....like I said...a lot of soft ground outs and a lot of swing and miss. I watched a lot of his ABs last year on MiLB TV and again this spring. I didn't see any change so far this year after all the work over the winter. A high walk rate, high K rate with some SB and a few HRs with a low BA does not make a fantastic player.

I am not a prospect hound or an evaluator, so I am most likely missing something. I am just stating what I am seeing doesn't match what I am reading.

 

[RatkoVarda]

swing and miss?

as a 19 year old, his K rate was 19.2% across low A and high A

as a 20 year old, his K rate was 16.9% across high A and AA

as a 21 year old, he is at AAA and its very likely he gets at least gets a cup of coffee in the majors, if not more

he may not be a superstar but just about everyone ranks him as the #1 OF prospect is baseball for a reason

geez. tough crowd

[4hzglory]

30 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Still, not sure why they started him at AAA when he only had 41 games at AA and struggled there most of August before having a better Sept. That's SSS to prove he had mastered the level though.  Always easier to bring a guy up than have to send him back down.....

He's always had a very high GB rate though - something he's going to have to fix at some point.

He evidently was tearing up the minor league portion of Spring training which helped lead them to starting him in AAA

[RaceDog]

15 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

geez. tough crowd

We'll see in a few years...I hope I am wrong as I am a homer for home grown kids for the Tigers

[NorthWoods]

RE: all the mentions of his tats and chains.    I'm probably more old school than most but I like the kid.   I've followed him on the tweetz for a couple years and he seems very grounded and certainly puts in the work to improve.   I'm solidly rooting for him.

[chasfh]

2 hours ago, RaceDog said:

After watching M Clark last year and so far this year (ST and 1 AAA game)....I don't see the hype. I couldn't care less about the gold chain and his social media, but I see a lot of K's and weak ground balls.  What am I missing?

What you might be missing is that Max is not Kevin McGonigle, who has raised the bar that high for all the other prospects we will now inevitably be disappointed in when they don't rake out of the gate once they're promoted.

Max is a different player with a different skill set and different timeline. I'm willing to give him that time to develop into his best baseball self.

 

[TigerNation]

2 hours ago, RaceDog said:

After watching M Clark last year and so far this year (ST and 1 AAA game)....I don't see the hype. I couldn't care less about the gold chain and his social media, but I see a lot of K's and weak ground balls.  What am I missing?

Well, for starters, you're missing that he doesn't K a lot, and his contact rate is elite.

[gehringer_2]

4 hours ago, 4hzglory said:

He evidently was tearing up the minor league portion of Spring training which helped lead them to starting him in AAA

it’s always a fine line. as long as he has a high enough percentage of successful ABs. It’s just harder for a guy to make progress if he’s making too many outs. 

[4hzglory]

8 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

it’s always a fine line. as long as he has a high enough percentage of successful ABs. It’s just harder for a guy to make progress if he’s making too many outs. 

Well he has 4 walks in his first 9 PA’s including one of Zach Wheeler today, so he’s having solid at bats.

[Tenacious D]

Let’s not worry about Max Clark, Boomers—just a matter of when, not if.

[Longgone]

19 hours ago, RaceDog said:

I get the walks and the plus speed, but I am not seeing the hit tool....like I said...a lot of soft ground outs and a lot of swing and miss. I watched a lot of his ABs last year on MiLB TV and again this spring. I didn't see any change so far this year after all the work over the winter. A high walk rate, high K rate with some SB and a few HRs with a low BA does not make a fantastic player.

I am not a prospect hound or an evaluator, so I am most likely missing something. I am just stating what I am seeing doesn't match what I am reading.

 

What you are missing is that your conclusions are not based on facts, he doesn't have a lot of swing and miss, he has a relatively low k rate and he makes a lot of hard contact, he has superior strike zone judgement and he has been very young for his competition level. He also should end up as a plus defender.

[Tenacious D]

Anyone think the Rangers would rather have McGonigle instead of Wyatt Langford now?

[RatkoVarda]

Tol loses, now 0-3; 2 hits each for Wenceel, Max #1, Max #2, Julks, and Nido; nice start for Montero; Go blows 3-run lead in the 10th.

[Motor City Sonics]

On 3/28/2026 at 3:43 PM, chasfh said:

What you might be missing is that Max is not Kevin McGonigle, who has raised the bar that high for all the other prospects we will now inevitably be disappointed in when they don't rake out of the gate once they're promoted.

Max is a different player with a different skill set and different timeline. I'm willing to give him that time to develop into his best baseball self.

 

Yep, he's gonna be compared to K-Mac.............who might come down to earth at some point, by the way.     But yeah, why can't you be like Kevin.      

Max Clark is now Jan Brady................"KEVIN, KEVIN, KEVIN !"

Give him some time.....

 

I'm more concerned that he reminds me of Todd from Breaking Bad - the most disturbing character in that universe.