WEST SACRAMENTO -- Denzel Clarke hails from Toronto, Canada, but that did not stop him from partaking in some Fourth of July fireworks on Friday night.
On a night in which the Athletics offense exploded for 12 hits in an 11-2 blowout victory over the Giants, Clarke provided the loudest blast of them all with a majestic home run that served as a worthy prelude to Fireworks Night at Sutter Health Park.
It came in the bottom of the seventh inning. Facing Giants reliever Mason Black, Clarke turned on a 2-0 fastball left over the middle and demolished it for a soaring two-run home run. The ball nearly cleared the A’s clubhouse entirely, blending in nicely with fireworks that were already being set off in the distance in the nearby Sacramento area before landing on top of the visitors’ clubhouse well beyond the wall in left-center field.
"When I saw the ball flight and how fast it comes off the angle and stuff, I was like, ‘Wow!’” Clarke said. “It was pretty to watch.”
Registering at a projected 471 feet by Statcast, Clarke’s third Major League homer went down as the third-longest homer in MLB so far this season.
Clarke’s impressive blast is the fifth-longest homer by an A’s player in the Statcast Era (since 2015). It was the longest homer by an A’s player since Seth Brown hit one 472 feet on July 10, 2021.
It was by far Clarke’s longest homer in the Majors, and he struggled to recall any home run even close to that distance at any level of baseball.
"The only one that comes to mind is in [High-A] Lansing,” Clarke said. “They have a bouncy castle near the scoreboard and I hit one in the area there. I don’t know how far that one was, but this one was a good one today.”
Clarke has shown to be a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder in his short time in the big leagues. Defense, however, is not all the rookie brings to the table.
Throughout his Minor League career, scouts raved about Clarke’s tremendous amount of raw power, which the A’s believe he will eventually tap into in the big leagues. That one swing of the bat encapsulated on Friday night that potential.
The overall package of tools possessed by Clarke was on full display. The speed showed up in the sixth, when he belted a leadoff triple -- his first as a big leaguer -- the opposite way to right-center.
Of course, there was also the elite defense, as he made a diving catch in shallow center to rob Andrew Knizner of a hit and end the top of the eighth.
"Great day by Denzel,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “The way he’s swinging the bat and the continued process he’s making, to drive a ball to right-center, then in a 2-0 [count] to have the ability to get the bat head out and hit a ball a really long way over the building shows the progress he’s making.”
There’s no question Clarke’s defense is miles ahead of his offense at this point. He entered Friday hitting just .189 (20-for-106) through 35 games. But the A’s have been encouraged by the work being put in by Clarke alongside director of hitting Darren Bush to adjust to this level, and a performance like Friday’s certainly goes a long way in lending confidence.
"It’s the big leagues,” Clarke said. “These are the best pitchers in the world. … For me, I just have to understand it’s a learning curve. I’ve played baseball at the high school, college and professional level, and I’ve failed at every single level. But I’ve also overcome failure at every level. The goal is to make adjustments to try to do that at this level as well.”