ARLINGTON – The phenomenon that has become The Denzel Clarke Show whenever he has been manning center field for the Athletics this season will have to go on a hiatus.
Before Monday’s 7-2 loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field, A’s manager Mark Kotsay revealed that Clarke will miss extended time due to a right adductor strain, with an official placement on the 10-day injured list expected to come Tuesday. The rookie center fielder was removed from Sunday’s loss to the Guardians after he clearly appeared to be in discomfort while jogging down the third-base line to score on an RBI double by Nick Kurtz in the eighth inning.
MRI results on Monday revealed a Grade 2 strain of Clarke’s right adductor muscle. For comparison’s sake, Twins infielder Royce Lewis sustained a Grade 2 right adductor strain last season on July 3 and was activated off the IL on July 26.
Kotsay declined to give a specific timeline, though he said “it’s probably going to be a couple of weeks” before Clarke can even begin preparing for a return.
"From that standpoint,” Kotsay said. “he’s probably [looking at two weeks] before he’s on his way back to start his rehab.”
Clarke has quickly emerged as a defensive star and Gold Glove candidate, earning MLB’s Electric Play of the Week honors a whopping four times since his Major League debut on May 23 with a multitude of highlight-reel catches in a short amount of time.
It goes beyond the spectacular plays. Clarke is a stellar defender who has improved the A’s defense as a whole, especially in the outfield. Entering Monday, his 12 outs above average (OAA) were tied for eighth among all qualifying players and tied for third most among outfielders.
Perhaps the even greater development, though, has been his improvements at the plate. Following a slow start with a ton of strikeouts, Clarke was 14-for-42 (.333) with a 1.007 OPS, six doubles, two triples and a home run over his previous 12 games.
“I don’t know the data off the top of my head, but I felt like the strikeouts were going down,” Kotsay said. “His barrel percentage was going up. I love the aggression that I was seeing with him swinging more. Again, the more at-bats we can get this kid, I think the quicker the development process was going to happen.”
There is no replacing Clarke’s elite defense in center field, but the A’s will do their best to fill the spot with a rotation of players. Lawrence Butler got the first crack at it as the starting center fielder on Monday and delivered his own impression of Clarke with a leaping catch over the wall in left-center to rob Kyle Higashioka of a home run to end the second inning.
“I’m just trying to be Denzel,” Butler said. “He’s made multiple catches like that. I probably rank at the bottom out of those catches he’s made. It just felt good to be able to pull one back for [A’s starter Jacob Lopez] and not let them get the early lead.”
Max Schuemann, who replaced Clarke in center on Sunday, will get some reps there. Whoever the A’s decide to call up from Triple-A Las Vegas is expected to have experience playing center field, with A’s No. 3 prospect Colby Thomas and JJ Bleday the likely candidates.
Clarke is a key piece of this evolving core of young A’s talent, along with All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson and first baseman Nick Kurtz, who just earned American League Player of the Week honors. While Clarke will miss valuable development time, the A’s are hopeful there is enough time to get him back for a good chunk of playing time before the season’s end.
“Had this injury not taken place and he’d finished the rest of the season, I was confident that we could have gotten him close to 300 at-bats,” Kotsay said. “That would have been great to begin next year with. We’re just hoping that he can get back with us at some point this year and finish off the season.”