Athletics rookie Denzel Clarke has been wowing the baseball world with his unreal catches, but his bat hasn’t kept up with his glove.
However, Clarke’s performance Friday night in the Athletics’ 11-2 win over the Giants at Sutter Health Park might be a sign that his bat is turning a corner.
The 25-year-old demolished a 471-foot homer off Giants reliever Mason Black in the seventh inning to push the Athletics’ lead to 11-0.
The ball landed in the netting above the clubhouses in left-center field.
“I tagged that ball, which was dope,” Clarke told Jenny Cavnar and Dallas Braden on “A’s Cast” after the game. “Happy to help the team win on both sides of the ball today. So, it was dope.”
Clarke entered Friday’s game slashing .189/.239/.264 with two homers and six RBI, but after going 2-for-4 with a triple and the longer homer, he’s now slashing .200/.248/.318.
For Clarke, playing in his 36th big-league game, his approach has been simple.
“I think the biggest thing is just simplifying,” Clarke told Canvar and Braden. “The stuff is good here. These are the best pitchers in the world, so I’ve got to make sure I’m as simple as possible. And the biggest thing is I have long arms, long legs, I’m a tall dude, so I’ve got to make sure everything is compact. Totally just making the adjustments.”
After a game in which starter JP Sears pitched six shutout innings and the Athletics’ offense pounded out 12 hits — including six doubles — the first question to manager Mark Kotsay was about Clarke and the progress he’s making.
“Great day by Denzel,” Kotsay told reporters. “Outside of him not catching the ball that went over the wall — I asked him where his web was, but it didn’t come out — but then the very next play, he robs a line-drive base hit in the right-center gap. Overall, the way he’s swinging the bat, the continued progress he’s making, the ball to right center, for him to drive a ball that way and 2-0, have the ability to get the head out and hit a ball a really long way over the building shows the progress he’s making, for sure.”
Clarke still has a long way to go with the bat, but Friday’s performance proves he’s capable of being a two-way force for the Athletics.
The keys are simplifying and finding consistency.
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