NORTH PORT, Fla. — Down on the field at the World Series, Max Clark wore a cream-colored Louis Vuitton varsity jacket and had young fans howling for his autograph. Quite the scene for a Detroit Tigers prospect who has yet to play a game in Double A.
Truth is Clark’s online persona carried weight even before the Tigers drafted him No. 3 overall two summers ago. Clark is a rising force of personality. He has more than 361,000 followers on TikTok. His 426,000 Instagram followers is more than seven times that of reigning Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.
Late last summer, when the Tigers staged their surprise run to the playoffs, Clark engaged with his audience and posted on X like a fan. “TORK TORK TORK TORK TORK,” he posted after a Spencer Torkelson home run on Sept. 25.
At the World Series, Clark worked as a content correspondent for Meta, strolling around during batting practice and shooting photos and videos on his phone. His presence at the Fall Classic contained a dizzying duality. Part of him was still dreaming of what it would be like to one day reach that stage and awe-struck over the players he grew up watching. Look, Mookie Betts just walked by. Freddie Freeman is taking swings!
But being on the field at Dodger Stadium, where a couple of years earlier he stepped on a major-league field for the first time in a Perfect Game showcase, was already a full-circle moment. On the game’s biggest platform, Clark drew a crowd all his own.
“That was really cool, I got to be completely honest,” Clark said Sunday. “I get there, and I see (Juan) Soto, (Aaron) Judge, Freeman … All these greats. It was insane. So to have a younger generation of players doing the same for me, it definitely felt good. I’m blessed for that.”
The Max Clark Experience doubles as a revealing commentary on what it means to be a baseball player in 2025. Even as MLB attendance increased in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 12 years and World Series viewership grew 67 percent from 2023 to 2024, baseball can still struggle to market its biggest stars. In an era where few players are household names, Clark has built an audience among the sport’s youngest and most online fans. He has strengthened this following despite spending last season on a muggy field in Lakeland, Fla., and playing under the dreary skies of western Michigan.
Meanwhile, his appearance is sure to make old-school coaches roll their eyes. Big sunglasses, tattoos down his arms, smeared eye black, colorful cleats and massive silver chains, one of which bears his initials. Last season he wore custom spikes: the right shoe featured words of affirmation; the left shoe featured posts from the haters who questioned the Tigers drafting Clark over college star Wyatt Langford.
Just when Clark’s aura begins to seem vapid, contrived or downright annoying, he offers a disarming charm. Clark is 20 and engaged to his high-school sweetheart. He is friendly with fans and engaging with all in his orbit. In a dim hallway at CoolToday Park, Clark spoke before Sunday’s Spring Breakout Game. He has been a face for MLB’s promotional efforts each of the past two seasons.
“Honestly, it’s how you grow the game,” Clark said. “We’re kind of entering a new generation of what baseball is. Especially (the Spring Breakout game), it’s great for the fans. There’s so many people out there who don’t really understand what the minor leagues is, how the system works.”
Clark continued.
“Every time I open my X, it’s like, ‘Hey, when are you getting called up?’” he said. “It’s like, ‘I have literally played 34 games in High A. Probably not for a little bit.’ This is something for them to learn from. This is something for them to gain knowledge with. So I love interacting.”
As a high-schooler in the small town of Franklin, Ind., Clark kept columns of quotes and lofty goals written in marker on his bathroom mirror. Even as he shamelessly touted his objective to be drafted first overall, Clark’s love for the game comes across as undeniably authentic. This is one of the first things that helped him garner respect from Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, himself known to fall asleep with West Coast games rolling on TV.
“Max is a baseball junkie,” Hinch said. “I will reference games earlier in the camp, and he will have already watched it, or I’ll reference seeing something on TV on one of the broadcasts, and he was locked in on that game. I think he watches baseball as much as any young player in our organization. I think that’s awesome.”
Said Clark: “I love baseball. That’s all I’ve ever known. It’s all I wanted to do since I was 5. I will watch every inning, every out of every game if I could.”
Ask anyone in the Tigers’ organization about Clark’s personality, and they will likely begin with a chuckle. The flash and flair are inescapable realities. But even as baseball’s stodgy culture slowly evolves — bat flips, colorful arm sleeves and fiery celebrations are no longer all taboo — this is still a sport where individualism can be discouraged. Baseball needs more Max Clarks. Baseball also remains uncomfortable when such a player emerges.
So how do the Tigers manage the persona?
“I think the great thing about Max is he’s just authentically who he is,” said Ryan Garko, the Tigers’ assistant general manager who heads player development. “Good teammate. Coaches love him. Really humble. I think you see some of the things around him … the perception versus reality are a little bit different. He’s one of our hardest workers. He supports his teammates and he’s respectful to the organization, the past players, the current players. You can tell he was raised well, and the makeup is just as impressive as all the tools.”
Clark said he has not yet encountered much opposition to his public-facing style. But he is aware of a potential dilemma that exists as he draws closer to the major leagues.
Max Clark is well-liked within the Tigers organization, and outside it as well. (Junfu Han / Detroit Free Press / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
“I feel like there’s definitely, probably gonna be a time where (pushback) does happen,” Clark said. “But that’s just who I am as a person. It has nothing to do with baseball. I’m very open and outgoing. I want to be involved with it as much as I can. I want to help the new generation of kids that want to play professional baseball.”
Standing in the dugout Sunday, Hall of Fame shortstop Alan Trammell rattled off his comparisons for a variety of Tigers prospects. He could not think of anyone whose personality compares to Clark’s. The 67-year-old luminary nonetheless gave Clark a ringing endorsement.
“I think it’s good for the Tigers,” Trammell said. “I’m not used to that. It’s not my style, all the social media and all that because I’m not on it. But I don’t think we’ve ever had a player like Max Clark, and that’s all in a good way.”
When the Tigers drafted Clark third and signed him to an underslot deal, it allowed them to sign infielder Kevin McGonigle to an overslot deal with the No. 37 pick. Now together as arguably the top position players in Detroit’s system, Clark and McGonigle are yin and yang. McGonigle is more quiet, serious and stoic. Their personalities feed off each other.
“He’s a great baseball player,” McGonigle said. “I would say he’s an even better human, better friend, better guy to be around when you’re in that clubhouse. He’s got the same mentality, and that’s to win.”
Clark’s style, however, has yet to rub off on his more reserved teammate.
“Yesterday on the back fields I did throw one of his chains on,” McGonigle said, laughing and dropping his head forward. “I couldn’t even keep my head up.”
Last week, when the Tigers called on Clark to play in a major-league spring training game for the first time, he was nervous. “My legs felt like cement in the box,” he said. When he entered mid-game and trotted out to center field, Clark found himself warming up between innings with Riley Greene, who was a 4 fWAR player last season. Clark’s first throw sailed well above Greene’s head.
“The ball boy isn’t there,” Clark said. “So I made Riley Greene, an All-Star, run all the way to the foul pole, pick it up, throw it back. And then the next one, I short-hopped him.”
Mortified as Clark was, he was relieved when, before the inning began, Greene shouted over: This is your outfield. You’re in center field today. Do you.
The unspoken crux in Clark’s development still hangs in the backdrop of every conversation. Does a player who draws so much attention actually have the skill to warrant the frenzy?
As a center fielder, Clark has a compact build but lightning speed and an impressive arm. Corbin Carroll, the dynamic Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder known for his soft-spoken personality, is the obvious comparison in terms of play style. Clark’s first pro season featured the growing pains and adjustments that test many young hitters. He still hit .279 with a .372 on-base percentage and nine home runs in 107 games across Low A and High A. He stole 29 bases in 33 attempts.
Evaluators hold mixed opinions on how high Clark’s hitting ceiling is. He makes good contact and shows an advanced approach but can still hit too many ground balls and lacks overt power projection. The speed and defense, though, could give him a high floor.
Sunday in the Spring Breakout game, Clark smacked a ball to the opposite field that ricocheted off a diving left fielder’s glove. Clark blazed around first and stretched the hit into a double. Later, in the third inning, a single fell in front of Clark with a runner on first. Clark charged the ball from the crack of the bat, fielded it on a hop and came up firing. Atlanta Braves base runner John Gil shut down his attempt to take third. Clark fired a strike into second base.
got ’em@maxxclarkk13 pic.twitter.com/u3wlLaBhlf
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) March 16, 2025
Diving back into the bag, Gil was out.
And Clark’s star qualities were apparent once again.
“The fact that he’s confident enough to have all these other extra things is certainly noteworthy, but it’s not what defines him,” Hinch said. “I think baseball and winning defines him more than it looks like if you just walk in the park and see the flash.”
(Top photo: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
