YGY Radio Rewind: Ian Clarkin Interview

On this special episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, brought to you by KNODA.com, I had the privilege of interviewing one of the Yankees’ top pitching prospects in their farm system. This pitcher was ranked number six on the Yankees’ top ten prospects by Baseball America and number four by Baseball Prospectus.

The pitcher I am referring to is 19-year-old Ian Clarkin. The left-hander was taken with the 33rd pick in the 2013 MLB Draft out of James Madison High School in San Diego. He was one of three players that the Yankees took in the first round along with Eric Jagielo and Aaron Judge. This past season, Clarkin finished his first year of professional baseball with the low-A Charleston Riverdogs of the South Atlantic League and showed good results.

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In 15 starts (16 games pitched), he went 3-3 with a 3.21 ERA. Opponents in the SAL hit only .250 against him as Clarkin was able to strikeout 71 batters in 70 innings of work. That strikeout total was fifth among all pitchers in Charleston last season. Clarkin’s success led him to making one start at the high A level in Tampa on August 7. In that outing, he went five innings, gave up one run on seven hits, struck out four and walked one. One of the things that stood out about this pitcher was that he called himself a “perfectionist”, which shows he works hard and strives to improve every single day. This past season showed that Clarkin has a bright future in the Yankees’ organization as he prepares for the 2015 season.

Here are some of the topics I interviewed Clarkin about Tuesday night:

• What the moment was like for him when he was drafted by the Yankees
• What did he learn in his first season of professional baseball?
• Did his last start at the high-A level give him a confidence boost going into next year?
• What is he looking to improve on heading into 2015?
• What is his arsenal of pitches that he uses to attack hitters?
• Talking about all three first round picks (Clarkin, Jagielo, Judge) coming up together to the Yankees in future years
• The honor of being on these top ten Yankees’ prospects lists
• Why his favorite pitcher to watch was former Red Sox’ reliever Jonathan Papelbon
• What message does he want to send to Yankees’ fans heading into 2015

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE IAN CLARKIN INTERVIEW! 

We at Yanks Go Yard wish Ian all the best heading into the 2015 season!