Miami Marlins 2021: The Rise of Ethan Clark

Throughout the 2018/2019 offseason, Marlin Maniac will devote one article each for every player who appeared in the Miami Marlins system for the 2018 season. Every. Single. Player. This is Part 17…of 286. Stay tuned.

Ethan Clark is a 6’6″, 235 lb. right-handed pitcher from Oklahoma City, OK. Born on October 26th, 1994, Clark was a 15th-round selection for the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2015 draft out of Crowder College, a JC in the Midwest Community College Athletic Conference. He signed with the Rays for $127,500. Follow Clark on Twitter @ethanclark22.

In two seasons of MCCAC ball, Clark racked up a 10-4 record wtih a 4.73 ERA over 33 appearances, including 17 starts. He struck out 116 in 119 1/3 innings, with a 1.58 WHIP to his credit.

On June 26th, 2017, Clark was traded along with Braxton Lee to the Miami Marlins for Adeiny Hechavarria. As a 448th overall draft choice, Clark would be the seventh member of the “448 club” to make the major leagues. The most successful, by far, was Mark Salas (1979, St. Louis Cardinals, 2.0 career WAR).

Clark is expected by the Miami Marlins to continue his progression into a major league middle reliever.

In his first two professional seasons with the Rays, Clark played with the Princeton Rays, in the rookie-level Appalachian League. He went 8-7 with a 4.13 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP, along with 68 K’s in 84 1/3 innings pitched. 2016 would see Clark named an Appalachian League All-Star.

Before the trade in 2017, the Rays had Clark working with the Bowling Green Hot Rods in the Midwest League, an “A” level outfit. He was 3-2 with a 2.05 ERA over 12 appearances, including nine starts. He racked up 50 whiffs in 55 innings while holding opposing batters to a 1.000 WHIP. After the trade, the Miami Marlins sent him to the Greensboro Grasshoppers, where he went 3-2 with a 3.11 ERA in 12 more appearances, including nine more starts. He posted a 1.27 WHIP for them and struck out 57 in 52 2/3 frames.

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Clark visited the disabled list early in 2018, and was activated in early June and sent to the Jupiter Hammerheads, in the high-A Florida State League. After going 1-5 with a 4.01 ERA over 10 games, including eight starts, the Marlins sent him back to Greensboro. He was 1-2 for them with a 4.45 ERA. He did combine to strike out 78 batters in 72 1/3 innings. In his best game of the season, on June 19th, he struck out seven in five innings, holding the Florida Fire Frogs scoreless on one hit in a 5-3 Hammerheads victory.

Clark didn’t perform well enough to count on a promotion to double-A next season, and if retained should remain with the Hammerheads. His earliest possible arrival in Miami, provided continued progression through the minors from this point forward, would be 2021.

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