The right-handed reliever started his 2021-2022 off-season being non-tendered by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Fortunately for him, the Royals came calling and offered him a guaranteed major league contract worth $975K before Spring Training had even started. Clarke had not been particularly good for Arizona and he’d also been frequently hurt. Only one of those things followed him to Kansas City.
Despite having a very boring name and being the most boring kind of baseball player - a right-handed middle reliever - Clarke quickly established himself as one of the more reliable pitchers in a very volatile bullpen. By the time April had ended he had a 1.