Athletics’ Denzel Clarke wows friends, family, Varsho with catch

TORONTO — Denzel Clarke had played at Rogers Centre before — just never quite like this.

With the Blue Jays leading 6-3 Friday, Alejandro Kirk led off the bottom of the fourth inning with what should have been a home run to straightaway centre field. But Clarke, a Toronto native who played here at the Canadian Futures Showcase while growing up, thought he had a chance to make a play.

As the ball sailed toward the centre field wall, Clarke sprinted back to the warning track where he planted his right foot on the wall, held on for balance with his right hand and reached up to attempt a sensational catch with his glove.

“And I was able to pull it down,” he said from the Athletics clubhouse afterwards. “Everything came together on it, so I was super happy about it.” 

While the Blue Jays still beat the Athletics 11-7, the 25-year-old Clarke was one of the stars of this game, turning Kirk’s near-homer into a 407-foot out, nearly robbing Nathan Lukes of an extra-base hit in the sixth and collecting the first run batted in and multi-hit game of an MLB career that started just last week.

Before the season began, Clarke checked when the Athletics were visiting Toronto in the hopes that he’d have earned his way onto the big-league team by then. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t,” he acknowledged Thursday afternoon.  

Then, just one week into his big-league career he was playing at home in front of an estimated 150-200 friends and family on the same field he’d once cheered for the likes of Aaron Hill, J.P. Arencibia and Jose Bautista.

But while Clarke once drew inspiration from those Blue Jays, this time it was his turn to impress the home team. When Clarke robbed Kirk in the fourth inning, Gold Glove centre fielder Daulton Varsho was watching from the on deck circle as the 6-foot-4 former fourth-round pick scaled the wall.

“I was pretty impressed,” Varsho said. “He’s a massive human so he probably could have jumped and caught it, but him sticking his foot in that wall was very impressive.” 

As the video replay played on the centre field scoreboard, Clarke looked up to assess his path to the ball.

“I always like seeing if my route was good, if I timed it out well,” he said.

Like Varsho, Blue Jays manager John Schneider was impressed by the athleticism Clarke showed off Friday.

“That’s a hell of a catch,” Schneider said. “Young dude, exciting. You can see where there’s a lot of tools there. And cool for him to come back home and do that. Glad that didn’t beat us, but I’m sure it’s cool for him and his family, his friends.” 

Two innings after robbing Kirk, Clarke nearly made another spectacular catch when Lukes hit a ball into the left-centre field gap. After initially misreading the ball, Clarke adjusted and sprinted back at full speed before crashing into the wall as he attempted a backhanded catch.

As the ball ricocheted away, Clarke fell to the warning track while simultaneously catching the ball on one hop and flipping it backhanded to left fielder CJ Alexander, who had come over to back up the play.

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“I was kind of rushing myself as I got to the wall — not as composed as I usually am, but you’re going to make mistakes in this game,” Clarke said. “I’m always just trying to be aware, heads-up. We have great outfielders, so I knew my corners would be backing me up, I knew CJ was going to be there. Looked up, flipped it to him and we kept the play going.”

As the ball made its way back to the infield, Lukes stopped at second with a double. From the Blue Jays’ dugout, Varsho was impressed by the effort.

“That was really hard,” Varsho said. “He was really close to catching that ball. It’s one of those plays where it’s do or die and you live with the consequences.”

Just seven games into his big-league career, Clarke still has a lot to learn. He collected just one hit in his first 19 at-bats before Friday, striking out 15 times. But after drawing a walk and adding two hits against the Blue Jays, he finally has some momentum at the plate — and it’s abundantly clear he has the skills to be an elite defender in centre.

A crowd of 36,951 Blue Jays fans can now confirm that with their own eyes.

“They’re always going to bring the energy, they’re always going to bring a great fan base,” Clarke said. “It’s our job to punch back whenever we can.”

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