Newsstand: Michigan baseball's Clark Elliott selected in 2022 MLB Draft
Michigan baseball slugged its way into the postseason in 2022 due in large part to the efforts of Junior outfielder Clark Elliott. Now, he has a new home with the MLB Draft in full swing.
The Oakland Athletics grabbed Elliott with the No. 69 overall pick on Sunday evening, adding an ascending hitting talent to the organization. he led Michigan in home runs, RBI, walks and OPS last season while battling .337, getting on base at a .460 clip and slugging .630.
Elliott grabbed Most Outstanding Player honors at the 2022 Big Ten Tournament thanks to six hits, seven RBI and eight runs in the five games played.
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“Huge performer in ‘22 with big power gains, plus athlete/runner who played RF for U-M but could profile in CF, dude can really hit, power coming on makes this more enticing, love this for Oakland,” Perfect Game’s Brian Sakowski said of the pick on social media.”
What MLB.com said about the Michigan star
After a decent first full season at Michigan last spring, Elliott was one of the biggest breakout performers in the Cape Cod League. He led the prestigious summer circuit in batting (.344) and on-base percentage (.464) while getting a chance to play center field after manning right field for the Wolverines. He should become their fourth outfielder taken in the top three rounds since 2019, following Jordan Brewer, Jordan Nwogu and Jesse Franklin.
There’s little debate about Elliott’s ability to hit quality fastballs, work counts and make line-drive contact from the left side of the plate, but there’s split opinion about how many home runs he’ll provide. His biggest believers think he’ll grow into average power and see some parallels between him and Michael Brantley, while others point to his .405 slugging percentage in his first two years at Michigan and low exit velocities with wood bats and see below-average pop. He did increase his home run output from five to 16 and his slugging percentage from .428 to .630 from 2021 to 2022.
There aren’t many quibbles with the rest of Elliott’s game and he draws praise for his makeup as well. His speed earns grades from solid to well above-average and plays better on the bases and in the outfield than it does out of the batter’s box. He may not man center for the Wolverines but showed enough quickness and range on the Cape for most scouts to believe he can as a pro, and his average arm should allow him to fit anywhere in the outfield.
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Michigan quote of the day
“[Former Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman] stepping into the breach and plugging those holes (at least on an interim basis), will, in my view, be one of the most important things this Board has ever done. We needed to immediately stop digging and restore the trust deficit. The week after, as the Board met to discuss these circumstances (and, more importantly, the future), the Board was united strongly: We need someone to keep the University the best in the country academically and be the person that could restore trust and accountability.”
– Michigan regent Jordan Acker on interim president Mary Sue Coleman giving way to Santa J. Ono
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