Twins' Walker Jenkins and Tigers' Max Clark can't escape the comparisons. Now they're MLB rivals.

Bobby Nightengale, Star Tribune on Sep 2, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MINNEAPOLIS — This is no Magic vs. Bird rivalry, but Twins rookie center fielder Walker Jenkins will be compared to Detroit Tigers rookie center fielder Max Clark for the rest of his career.

There are just too many similarities. They are both center fielders from the same graduating class in high school. The Tigers took Clark with the No. 3 pick in the 2023 MLB draft, and Jenkins went to the Twins at No. 5 overall.

Clark made his MLB debut, on July 31, at 21 years, 222 days old. Jenkins played in his first major league game last Friday at 21 years, 190 days.

“It’s part of it, man,” Jenkins said earlier this year. “When you play the same position and same draft, people are going to compare you.”

Jenkins and Clark are both left-handed-hitting center fielders, but stylistically they are a bit different.

Jenkins is 6-3, 210 pounds. Clark is 5-11, 205 pounds. They both are excellent contact hitters, but Jenkins’ swing should lead to more homers. Clark is known for his speed and plays more like a prototypical center fielder. Jenkins deleted social media apps on his phone before he was called up. Clark is social media star with 495,000 followers on Instagram and 389,000 followers on TikTok.

The two didn’t play on the same team much during national high school events. Jenkins, from North Carolina, broke his hamate the summer before his senior year, and he was sidelined during his freshman year after he underwent surgery for a hip impingement.

Clark “was a physical specimen in high school, dude,” Jenkins said. “I saw some of his weight room stuff. I remember one thing I did see when we were playing with [Team] USA together, he was going to workout before or after some of our days. I was like, ‘What is this guy doing working out?’ It was kind of a foreign idea to me at the time.”

There were a lot of debates, particularly on recruiting websites like Perfect Game and Prep Baseball Report, about whether Jenkins or Clark, an Indiana native, was the best high school player in the country.

The other players picked around them in the 2023 draft were college pitcher Paul Skenes and college outfielders Dylan Crews and Wyatt Langford.

“Growing up, of course, we were against each other,” Clark said a year after they were drafted. “We were competitive. But it’s never been bad blood between us. I love him. I think he’s a phenomenal player.

“Obviously, we both want to do well. But him doing well pushes me just as much as me doing well pushes him.”

Jenkins and Clark often played at the same minor league levels as they climbed toward the big leagues, both consensus top 25 prospects. Clark remembered when Jenkins suffered a hamstring injury during the first inning of the first game in 2024 at low-Class A Fort Myers.

“He’s going to be an All-Star,” Clark said. “The kid can flat-out play. Also, I really appreciate the way he plays the game. He plays hard. He got hurt running into the wall making a great catch in the very first inning of the very first game. You can’t teach that. It’s an intangible. I appreciate that out of him.”

The two players are cognizant of each other’s successes because their paths to the big leagues have mirrored each other.

Naturally, they were in the big leagues within a month of each other.

“Seeing that is awesome,” Jenkins said Monday, noting Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle was a part of their graduating class too. “I’ve competed with them. Seeing them doing well gives me confidence I can confidence that I can go compete up there just like them.”

At Class AAA, Jenkins hit .308 with 12 homers, 17 doubles, 28 RBIs and a .407 on-base percentage. Clark, meanwhile, batted .276 with 11 homers, 20 doubles, 42 RBI and a .368 on-base percentage.

“We play the game hard,” Jenkins said. “That’s one thing that has been a separator for both of us, the fact we’re willing to go hard and put in the work. I think that shows in both of our games, for sure.”

Clark added: “We’re definitely going to be linked together for the rest of our careers. That’s just how the apple falls. Additionally, the Twins and Tigers, that on top of it doesn’t help.”