A's outfield prospect Clarke on a meteoric rise

This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos' Athletics Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Denzel Clarke’s mother, Donna, reached the apex of her decorated career as a heptathlete by competing at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Nearly 38 years later, Denzel has paved his own way to L.A.

Rated Oakland’s No. 14-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, Clarke is one of two A’s prospects who will represent the organization in the 2022 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game during All-Star weekend at Dodger Stadium. He’ll be joined by the A’s No. 1 prospect Shea Langeliers, who ranks as baseball’s No. 31 overall prospect.

The seven-inning American vs. National League game will take place at Dodger Stadium on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT. It will be broadcast live on Peacock and SiriusXM, with MLB Network producing the telecast and reairing the game at 6 a.m. PT on Sunday.

Taking part in such a high-profile game is an honor in itself for Clarke. Having it take place in Los Angeles, not only where his mother starred for Canada as an Olympian, but also roughly 27 miles from Cal State Northridge, where Clarke attended college for three years, takes the significance of the achievement up a notch.

“L.A. has a lot of memories for myself and my family as well,” Clarke said. “I’m excited. I have a lot of friends and family out there that will be able to come up. It’s gonna be a great day.”

It’s been a quick rise for Clarke, who is only in his first full year in the A’s organization after being selected in the fourth round of the 2021 MLB Draft. Starting out the year at Low-A Stockton, the 22-year-old outfielder earned a promotion to High-A Lansing on June 14.

Entering Thursday, Clarke was slashing a combined .284/.397/.524 across the two levels with 10 home runs, 16 doubles, two triples, 34 RBIs and 17 stolen bases over 56 games.

“I’m definitely excited about it,” Clarke said of his selection to the Futures Game. “I’ve always tried to be the type of person that likes to just put my head down and work. For it to be recognized at such an event is really exciting.”

The fact that Clarke is thriving at such a high level is quite remarkable when you consider the late start he got in the sport. Involved in several sports while growing up in Toronto, it wasn’t until he was about 9 years old when he first picked up a baseball. Once he got started, though, it didn’t take long for Clarke to stand out on the baseball field.

“Around 16 years old is when one of my coaches came up to me and was like, ‘You have a shot to be really good at this,’” Clarke said. “From there, that’s when I really committed to baseball.”

Clarke’s supreme athleticism is usually what tops his scouting reports as a standout quality. Listed a 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, Clarke can thank his family’s athletic background for those genetics. In addition to his mother being an athlete, Clarke’s uncle, Kevin Smellie, was a Canadian Football League running back for the Toronto Argonauts.

The family bloodline also includes baseball. Clarke is a cousin of Josh and Bo Naylor, both of whom play in the Cleveland Guardians organization.

“Around 14 or 15 years old, I got to see them in action more and at the time I didn’t understand the magnitude of the baseball world and how progressive they were in it,” Clarke said. “It’s cool being able to follow their journey. Just keep in touch with them. They give me sound advice on a lot of things. It’s really cool to have them in my life.”

Perhaps most tantalizing about Clarke’s potential for the A’s is that he’s far from a finished product. For most of his baseball career, Clarke has been able to rely on his athletic tool to stand out above the rest. Now in professional ball, he’s sharpening up the fundamentals of the game.

“He just hadn’t really played a ton of baseball over the course of his lifetime,” said A’s director of player development Ed Sprague. “He needed to make some adjustments, which he did. He got off to a pretty good start in Stockton and he’s making some adjustments in High-A Lansing. I saw him hit a ball about 500 feet when I was [in Lansing] two weeks ago. He’s going to learn to make the adjustments every level he moves to.”