July 15, 2024

By Tyson Shushkewich

Canadian Baseball Network

It was a great week for Canadian position players in the minor leagues, with over 10 players collecting at least a solo home run while five racked up double-digit total bases and RBIs.

Two Oakland prospects (and relatives to boot) in Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.) and Myles Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) led the charge amongst the group. When the dust settled, it was the Clarke who took home the honour of being the Canadian Baseball Network’s Minor League Player of the Week – his third weekly award win this season.

Clarke led Canadian batters with eight hits, 14 total bases and produced a .471 average to go with an .824 slugging mark, which trailed only his cousin Myles (.867) among the group.

It was a unique week for Clarke and the Midland RockHounds, the A’s double-A affiliate, as the club finished a six-game set in San Antonio and moved on to face the Amarillo Sod Poodles without a regularly-scheduled Monday off.

The club played three games in Amarillo before returning home to finish the series, ending on Saturday (instead of the normal Sunday finale) and giving the RockHounds two days off before facing Arkansas.

On the road, Clarke started the series with a stellar showing – going 2-for-5. He notched a single in the fifth inning and homered over the left field wall an inning later.

He added a single in four at bats in Tuesday’s game, before saving his best for America’s birthday on July 4, when the RockHounds returned to Momentum Bank Ballpark to face the Sod Poodles.

After grounding out in his first at bat in the third inning, Clarke rebounded with a double to right field later that same frame and eventually crossed home to give Midland an early 8-0 lead. After a rain delay, Clarke tripled to centre and scored in the fourth. In his next at-bat in the sixth, Clarke belted a home run to right-centre to make the score 15-4.

For those keeping track at home, that left him a single shy of the cycle which he secured in the eighth inning. It was the first time since 2008 a RockHound had hit for the cycle. Clarke also accounted for four of the 24 runs Midland put up while driving in two.

The following day Clarke added another single before he went 2-for-3 with a run on Saturday.

Former Winners

Opening Day to May 6 – LHP Matt Wilkinson (Lander, BC), Guardians.

May 7- May 12 – INF Charles LeBlanc (Laval, Que.), Angels.

May 13- May 19 – RHP Adam Maier (North Vancouver, BC), Braves.

May 20- May 26 – INF Trei Cruz (Toronto, Ont.), Tigers.

May 27 – June 2 – RHP Lucas Wepf (Georgetown, Ont.), Dodgers.

June 3 – June 9 – C-DH Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.), Rangers.

June 10 – June 16 – OF Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.), Athletics.

June 17 – June 23 – OF Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.), Athletics.

June 24 – June 30 – RHP Jonah Tong (Markham, Ont.), Mets.

July 1 – July 7 – OF Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.), Athletics.

Statistics Compiled by Pete Berryman (July 2 to July 7)

Hitters

Pitchers