Denzel Leslie Clarke was originally signed by A¡¯s scout Dillon Tung¡Attended Cal State Northridge¡Hit .298 with 16 home runs and 53 RBI over three collegiate seasons¡Was named Big West Conference Tri-Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.
2024
Spent the entire season at Double-A Midland for the second consecutive year and hit .269 with 13 home runs, 53 RBI, 36 stolen bases and a .784 OPS in 116 games...Had career highs in batting average, runs (74), hits (116), triples (eight), RBI, stolen bases, games and strikeouts (143)¡Matched his best in extra-base hits (42)¡His on-base percentage (.339), slugging percentage (.445) and OPS were career lows...Tied for the most triples in the A¡¯s' farm system, ranked third in stolen bases, eighth in slugging and runs, ninth in batting and hits, 10th in games and tied for 10th in extra-base hits¡Had the third-most strikeouts...Led the Texas League in triples (eight), ranked fourth in stolen bases, tied for fifth in runs, tied for seventh in extra-base hits, ninth in hits and slugging and 10th in OPS...Was batting .188 with six stolen bases and a .568 OPS over his first 43 games through June 11¡Then hit .317 with 30 stolen bases and a .911 OPS over his final 73 contests¡Led the TL in OPS from June 12 through the end of the season and ranked second in batting, on-base percentage (.387) and slugging percentage (.524)...Batted .283 (32-for-113) with a .845 OPS against left-handed pitchers, .264 (84-for-318) with a .763 OPS against right-handers...Hit .318 with a .914 OPS in 55 home games, .226 with a .672 OPS on the road...Had a .338 average and five home runs in 17 day games, a .257 average and eight home runs in 99 night games...Was 24-for-48 (.500) when putting the first pitch in play...Started 87 games in center field, 15 in right field and one in left field¡Ranked third among TL outfielders in total chances (271) and putouts (263) and tied for 10th in assists (six)¡Committed two errors in 104 games overall in the outfield for a .993 fielding percentage, which was second-best...Also had 11 starts as the designated hitter...Started games at every spot in the order except second, seventh and ninth¡Hit .317 in 58 starts batting eighth¡Stole 18 bases in 35 starts in the leadoff spot.
2022
Split his first full professional season between Single-A Stockton and High-A Lansing and batted a combined .248 with 15 home runs, 47 RBI and a .834 OPS in 93 games....Was successful in 30-of-33 (90.9%) stolen base attempts...Was selected to play in the Futures Game and earned A¡¯s Organizational All-Star honors from MiLB.com....Ranked second in the A¡¯s farm system in stolen bases, third in OPS, fourth in slugging percentage (.469) and extra base hits (42), tied for fourth in walks (56), tied for fifth in runs (67) and triples (four), tied for sixth in doubles (23), ninth in on-base percentage (.365) and tied for ninth in home runs....Batted .260 (69-for-265) with a .872 OPS against right-handed pitchers compared to .205 (16- for-78) with a .707 OPS against left-handers....His average slipped to .247 with runners in scoring position....Hit 12 of his 15 home runs in his home ballparks for a .552 slugging percentage¡slugged .362 on the road....Batted .310 over innings 1-3, .212 from the fourth inning on....Was 9-for-17 (.529) with two doubles, three home runs and six RBI when putting the first pitch in play and 11-for-15 (.733) with a double, four home runs and nine RBI on a 1-0 count....Started 78 games in center field, nine in right field and four at designated hitter¡committed two errors, both as a center fielder, and had a .992 fielding percentage¡had two assists....Made starts at every spot in the order except ninth¡saw his most action with 31 games batting first and hit .301 with a .404 on-base percentage, six home runs, 20 RBI and 14 stolen bases in those games....Went 3-for-20 (.150) with a walk over his first five games¡then reached base safely in 40 consecutive games from April 14 to June 18 and batted .300 with a .434 on-base percentage¡began the streak by hitting safely in a season-best seven consecutive games from April 14-21 (14-for-30, .467)¡was named California League Player of the Week for the week of April 11-17 after going 10-for-28 (.357) with 10 runs, three home runs and eight RBI in six games against Modesto¡went 7-for-10 with eight runs, three home runs and seven RBI on the 14th and 15th¡scored a career high four runs in back-to-back games on the 14th and 15th, had a career-high four hits on the 14th and a career-high two home runs and a career-high four RBI on the 15th¡had his first career two-steal game April 19 at Inland Empire (also Aug. 16 and 21 against Great Lakes and Sept. 4 at South Bend)¡drew a career-high three walks April 20 at Inland Empire¡batted .325 with a .994 OPS and nine stolen bases in 20 games in April¡then went 4-for-24 (.167) over his first six games in May¡struck out a career-high four times May 3 against San Jose¡was hit by a pitch six times over a 12-game stretch from May 10 to June 7¡went 10-for-25 (.400) from May 10 to 19¡did not play from May 20 to June 2 ¡had a 4-for-32 (.125) stretch from June 7 to 19 but walked 10 times over that span for a .356 on-base percentage¡drew a career-high three walks June 9 against Rancho Cucamonga¡was batting .295 with seven home runs, 26 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 42 games with Stockton when he was promoted to Lansing on June 13¡batted .209 with eight home runs, 21 RBI and 16 stolen bases in 51 games with the Lugnuts¡hit .250 over his first 14 games before playing for the American League squad in the All-Star Futures Game on July 16¡went 0-for-1 with a walk and a strikeout as a defensive replacement in right field¡then batted .193 over his final 37 games with Lansing¡was 0-for-5 with a career-high four strikeouts July 26 at Great Lakes¡hit inside-the-park home runs in back-to-back games on Aug. 2 and 3 against West Michigan¡was on the Covid-19 list from Aug. 25 to 29¡went 4-for-32 (.125) in 10 games following his return¡then hit .275 with a home run and four RBI in 12 games with Mesa in the Arizona Fall League following the season.
2021
Made his professional debut with the A¡¯s affiliate in the Arizona Complex League and went 6-for-19 (.316) with two doubles, a home run and RBI in seven games before he was placed on the Covid-19 injured list Aug. 24¡missed the remainder of the season¡added three walks for a .409 on-base percentage and had a .988 OPS¡reached base safely in all seven games¡started three games in center field, two in left field and one at designated hitter¡went 1-for-2 with a double in his debut against the Rockies on Aug. 13¡hit his first home run Aug. 19 at the Rockies¡ stole his first base in the first game of an Aug. 21 doubleheader at the Cubs¡was rated as the A¡¯s ninth-best prospect by MiLB.com following the season.
