Denzel Clarke

Denzel Leslie Clarke

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 5", Weight 220 lb.
School California State University, Northridge
High School Everest Academy (Thornhill)
Debut May 23, 2025

Born May 1, 2000 in Toronto, ON CAN

Biographical Information[edit]

OF Denzel Clarke was born and grew up in the greater Toronto, ON area. He was first drafted by the New York Mets in the 36th round of the 2018 amateur draft, coming out of high school, and again in the 4th round of the 2021 amateur draft, by the Oakland Athletics out of California State University, Northridge. He hit .324 in his junior season there before being drafted.

Denzel began his pro career in 2021 with the ACL Athletics, going 6 for 19 in 7 games. In his first full season in 2022, he began the year with the Stockton Ports of the California League before a mid-year promotion to the Lansing Lugnuts of the Midwest League. Around the time of the promotion, he was selected to play for the American League team at the 2022 Futures Game, played on July 16th at Dodger Stadium. In the game, he made a great running catch at the wall to rob Joey Wiemer of extra bases, before recording the final out of the game on a more routine fly ball by Jackson Chourio. In 93 games, he hit .248/.365/.469, with 23 doubles and 15 homers, while scoring 67 runs and driving in 47. His excellent speed was not only on display on defense, as he stole 30 bases and was only caught three times. He also impressed observers by hitting inside-the-park homers in back-to-back games on August 2-3. While three major leaguers had managed to hit two such homers in one game since 1961, none had done so in consecutive games. Of course, due to the spottiness of minor league daily logs, some other player could have achieved the feat and have it go completely unnoticed, but reporters were unable to find evidence of anyone doing so in the minors either. Following the season, he played in the Arizona Fall League.

He was named to the Canadian national team for the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He spent that season in AA with the Midland RockHounds of the Texas League, but an injury limited him to 64 games and hit .261 with 12 homers and 43 RBIs. Still, the Athletics had him repeat the level in 2024 and played 116 games, with a slash line of .269/.339/.445 with 13 homers and 53 RBIs. He also scored 74 runs, stole 36 bases and led the Texas League with 8 triples and was the circuit's Player of the Month in July. What is more remarkable is that he was hitting just .188 through June 11th before turning things around.

He started the 2025 season with the AAA Las Vegas Aviators, hitting .286 in his first 31 games. He was called up to join the team now known simply as The Athletics on May 23rd and made his debut that same day, starting in centerfield and batting ninth against the Philadelphia Phillies. He went 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts before giving way to pinch-hitter CJ Alexander in the 9th inning. Shortly after his debut, the Athletics traveled to his hometown of Toronto to play a four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays. In his first start of the series in centerfield on May 30th, he put on a defensive clinic in front of friends and family, climbing halfway up the fence to rob Alejandro Kirk of a homer and making a number of other great plays on defense. His bat also showed some life: after he had started his career 1 for 19, he went 2 for 3 in the game with 2 runs and his first big league RBI. He then hit his first major league home run off Braydon Fisher the next day. He made the highlight reels again on June 6th when he caught a long drive off the bat of Jorge Mateo of the Baltimore Orioles by running at full speed in to the wall at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, CA. To make the catch even more impressive, there were two runners on base at the time, who would otherwise have scored easily. However, he had to leave the game a couple of innings later with left shoulder contusion, a result of his collision with a largely immovable object. But Denzel was undeterred: on June 9th, he made his robbery of Alejandro Kirk one better as he climbed the center field fence at Anaheim Stadium even higher, almost tumbling over it and into the rock pile, to deprive Nolan Schanuel of a homer. On July 4th, he made the highlight reels with his bat when he drove a ball 471 feet into the deep reaches of left field in his home ballpark in an 11-2 win over the San Francisco Giants. It was the third-longest homer hit by anyone in the majors that season. He also hit his first triple as a big leaguer in that game.

In addition to the WBC, he has played for the Canadian junior national team at the 2017 U18 Baseball World Cup, hitting .280/.459/.360 with ten walks (one behind event leader Jeandro Tromp) and winning the Outstanding Defensive Player Award. His mother Donna Smellie competed for Canada in the heptathlon at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, CA and his cousin Gavin Smellie was a sprinter in the 100 metres relay at the 2012 London Olympics. He is also a cousin of Josh Naylor, Bo Naylor and Myles Naylor.

Related Sites[edit]

Search

Namespaces

Views

Denzel Clarke

Biographical Information[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

Related Sites[edit]

Full Site Menu

FAQs, Tip & Tricks