For A's No. 6 prospect Clarke, Spring Breakout is a family affair

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MESA, Ariz. -- Denzel Clarke credits his cousins Josh and Bo Naylor for introducing him to baseball. Growing up in Canada, the three often played with and against each other in various amateur leagues.

As professionals, Clarke has had the opportunity to play against Josh multiple times in Spring Training. He and Bo had the honor of teaming up to represent their home country as members of the Canadian National Team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. But there is still one Naylor cousin that Clarke has yet to share the field with, and that¡¯s Myles, the youngest of the three brothers, who was drafted by the Athletics as a Competitive Balance Round A pick at No. 39 in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Because Clarke, 24, is closer in age to Josh and Bo than Myles, who is five years younger, the two never crossed paths on the same baseball diamond. Thanks to Spring Breakout, that connection is finally going to take place.

Clarke (the A¡¯s No. 6-ranked prospect, per MLB Pipeline) and Naylor (No. 25) are among the 21 players on the A¡¯s Top 30 Prospects list representing the club for its Spring Breakout game against the Padres on Friday.

¡°I¡¯m super excited to play with him,¡± Clarke said. ¡°I remember just growing up, he was always the young buck. I¡¯m super excited to share the field with him. Always happy to share the field with family.¡±

While Naylor just got his feet wet in Single-A Stockton last season for his first year of pro ball, Clarke is inching closer to the Majors. In 116 games for Double-A Midland in 2024, he flexed his array of tools by hitting .269 with a .784 OPS, 13 home runs, 21 doubles and eight triples while also stealing 36 bases.

Listed at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Clarke is a physical specimen who comes from quite the impressive sports family. In addition to the Naylors, his mother, Donna, was a decorated heptathlete who competed at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. His uncle, Kevin Smellie, was a Canadian Football League running back for the Toronto Argonauts.

Speaking of Bo, there¡¯s another Bo that comes to mind when A¡¯s director of player development Ed Sprague watches Clarke play.

¡°When you see him good, you think you¡¯ve got Bo Jackson,¡± Sprague said. ¡°Denzel¡¯s just a freak athlete. ¡­ Then there¡¯s times where you see him and it¡¯s like, ¡®Whoa, he¡¯s a long ways away.¡¯ Like he¡¯s never played before. He¡¯s up and down, which is not out of the norm for big guys like that. You see these guys like [Aaron] Judge and Giancarlo [Stanton] that are super-human athletes, they¡¯re going to have hot streaks and cold streaks just because it¡¯s hard to sync up those big body parts. But when Denzel hits it, it¡¯s electric.¡±

When it comes to defense, Sprague said Clarke can be ¡°a Gold Glove center fielder right now¡± in the big leagues. His glove certainly looked as advertised over the weekend, when Clarke made arguably the best catch you will see all spring by robbing a home run with a leaping grab over the center-field wall during Sunday¡¯s exhibition game against the D-backs at Las Vegas Ballpark.

¡°From a defensive standpoint in center, he¡¯s probably one of the better ones we have in the organization,¡± manager Mark Kotsay said. ¡°He¡¯s super talented out there.¡±

For all the tantalizing tools, Clarke, who did not take up baseball until around the age of 10, is still not a finished product. There are swing-and-miss concerns that were still a challenge last year, particularly against pitches with good spin. This spring, he is working to shorten his swing and be more direct to the ball, which should help cut down those high strikeout totals.

¡°I came into camp looking to make some adjustments that were recommended by the coaches,¡± Clarke said. ¡°I¡¯m just looking to make those moves and continue to work at my craft.¡±

Playing on the same team as his cousin for Spring Breakout might carry the most significance, but Clarke is also looking forward to teaming up with other fellow top A¡¯s prospects.

¡°I always love playing with the guys like Colby Thomas, Henry Bolte, Max Muncy, those guys are awesome,¡± Clarke said. ¡°There¡¯s also some guys I haven¡¯t played with, like Tommy White. It¡¯s going to be cool to see some names I haven¡¯t played with. Sharing the field with the future of our org is really exciting.¡±