Clark heating up at Triple-A, posts another 3-hit day
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Max Clark has been proving why he’s the Tigers’ top prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 7 overall while finding his footing at Triple-A Toledo this season. His latest heater is only further solidifying that.
Clark racked up three hits Sunday, his third such game in 2026, and additionally stole a base in a 14-10 loss to St. Paul at Fifth Third Field. After making quite the power display earlier this month, the 21-year-old outfielder has gone 6-for-13 over his past three games.
Clark’s big day began in the first inning, when the lefty got jammed up and in but beat the shift with a bouncer the opposite way. He later scored on a Ben Malgeri home run.
In the third inning, Clark battled to a full count before slapping a looping single to right-center field, showing off his elite contact skills. Malgeri drove him in again, this time on a double.
Clark tacked on his final hit of the day in the fourth, chopping a 98.5 mph grounder through the middle of the infield. The hard-hit ball drove in Andrew Navigato after a leadoff double and gave Toledo an 8-4 lead at the time.
And just because Clark didn’t record another hit, that doesn’t mean he was done impacting the game offensively. He drew a two-out walk in the sixth and promptly stole second base. Clark then advanced to third when the throw got away and into center field, just another flash of his 70-grade speed. That made for 13 stolen bases this season after he recorded 19 in all of 2025.
The good fortune on batted balls for Clark didn’t last, as he stung a ninth-inning ground ball to second base at 107.5 mph for an out. After allowing eight runs across the seventh and eighth innings to squander a lead, Toledo did not go quietly in the ninth, but a two-run rally wasn’t quite enough to recoup the W.
Meanwhile, Clark’s 3-for-4 performance raised his season batting average to .259. Detroit’s 2023 first-rounder roared out of the gates in his first Triple-A action then endured a bit of a slow May, but he’s finding his groove again in June. Clark is now up to a .736 OPS for the season.