Former five-time Giants All-Star first baseman Will Clark joined Tolbert & Lund on Tuesday afternoon, and gave the guys his takes on what he’s seen in Arizona at spring training.
Clark’s strongest praise was reserved for centerfield prospect Steven Duggar, who has been the talk of the offseason as a potential Opening Day starter, despite the fact that he’s never played in a major league game.
Clark believes that the hype is legit, and said that Duggar is talented enough defensively to win a Gold Glove in his rookie season.
“I’ve seen Steve parts of the last two seasons in the minor leagues and I am definitely a Steven Duggar fan,” Clark said. “He can play Gold Glove centerfield right now in the big leagues. He can flat out go get them in centerfield. It goes back to our theory with the Giants on pitching and defense.
“His thing is how quickly is he going to make the adjustment in the big leagues to the pitching. I know there are a lot of people that are asking that question right now, but he’s succeeded at each level that he’s been at.
“He will do it on the major league level and I’m kind’ve staking my reputation on that.”
Clark also gave his two cents on fellow first baseman Brandon Belt, an advanced stats darling that has become one of the most polarizing players amongst Giants fans over the past few seasons. Clark believes that analyzing Belt is complicated, due in large part to the fact that he’s only been able to stay on the field for at least 150 games once in the past four seasons, and played in over 150 games just once in his seven year career.
“Brandon plays the same position I did,” Clark began. “We’ve had quite a few discussions, some of them a little bit more heated than others, and my big thing with Brandon is, ‘How many years you got in the big leagues? It’s time to play a full season.’ That’s what he’s had problems with with this concussion syndrome and stuff like that. I want to see him play a full season, see what kind’ve numbers you put up and we’ll go from there.”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Clark on Duggar & Belt, skip to 6:40.