NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Tigers outfield prospect Max Clark noted Sunday that he’d rather deal with the gusty winds of the Grapefruit League than the blinding Florida sun. On Tuesday, the sun got its revenge, giving Clark a hard time on two first-inning fly balls against the backdrop of a clear sky in the Tigers’ visit to the Braves at CoolToday Park.
Clark -- who's MLB's No. 10 overall prospect -- normally plays in center field, but he started in left Tuesday with Parker Meadows in center. Clark seemed prepared for the sun, from wraparound sunglasses to a healthy amount of eyeblack. The heart of the Braves' order, however, gave him a challenge soon enough. Matt Olson sent a high fly ball that Clark struggled to locate before it fell between him and Meadows, moving Ronald Acuña Jr. to second base.
Tigers starting pitcher Enmanuel De Jesus picked up his teammate by picking off Acuña between second and third base. But Atlanta’s next batter, Austin Riley, sent Clark scrambling to the warning track on a drive to deep left. Clark turned in time but couldn’t find the ball, which bounced on the track and over the wall for a ground-rule double.
It made Clark’s comments from Sunday in Lakeland seem prescient.
"I think it's a lot easier to deal with wind than it is sun,” Clark said. “You can't move the sun. It is immovable. But for the wind, you can at least position your body and know going into the game what it's going to do."
Clark recovered the next inning to make an easy out of Jurickson Profar’s fly ball to left, prompting a hearty round of applause from a crowd of Braves and Tigers fans.