Last Year’s Ports Making an Impact on Major League Spring Training

March 14, 2023 – California League (CalL) – Stockton Ports News Release

A handful of players from the 2022 Stockton Ports team are having great performances in Oakland A’s major league spring training games.

While the Ports are a Class A team, major league teams will look deep into their minor league systems for non-roster invitees to play in the later innings of games in major league spring training. Several of last year’s Ports are playing in Hohokam Stadium.

As much as we love watching these players in Stockton, the goal is of course for them to move up through the minor league ranks and eventually have an impact at the major league level. While the sample sizes of spring training may be small, they could indicate that these players are on their way to doing just that.

Last year, center fielder Denzel Clarke played 42 games for the Ports, hitting .295 with a .420 OBP and 14 stolen bases. Clarke was a 4th round draft pick out of Cal State Northridge by the A’s in 2021 and has quickly moved through the minors in his short career. He’s the A’s 13th ranked prospect according to MLB.com and represented the A’s in last year’s Futures Game.

The Toronto native spent the later half of the 2021 season in the Arizona Complex League, and started 2022 in Stockton before moving up to High-A Lansing. His batting numbers declined at this higher level, but it looks like he’s improved over the off-season in a big way based on his Spring Training numbers.

Clarke has been showing out in Spring Training, going 5/8 with one double, one triple, four walks, and one stolen base. Standing at 6’5″, he may not be a typical center fielder, but his speed and athleticism is what one would expect from someone who plays a premier defensive position. He stole 30 bases in total in 2022 and committed just two errors.

With the way he’s performed, don’t be surprised if he starts the year in Double-A and continues to quickly climb through the minor league system.

Daniel Susac playing in major league spring training is something that Ports fans can get excited about, not just because he played for the Ports last season, but because there’s a good chance he’ll be back this year.

Susac, the A’s 4th ranked prospect, was Oakland’s first round pick last year (19th overall) from the University of Arizona. He batted .285 in 25 games for the Ports with him playing catcher in 11 of those games.

In limited action at major league spring training, he’s batted 1/6 with his lone hit being a double which…