BY STEVE KRAH
After four seasons of college baseball and five professional years (four on the field), Clay Dungan finds himself heading for a new experience.
The 2015 graduate of Yorktown (Ind.) High School shined at Indiana State University (2016-19) and was selected in the ninth round of the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Kansas City Royals. He played four seasons in the KC system (four pro seasons (2019, 2021-23 with 2020 canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic).
On Dec. 6, he was chosen by the San Diego Padres during the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft and expects to report to that organization’s Peoria, Ariz., camp in late January or early February.
During the off-season, Dungan has been working out and teaching hitting and infield lessons at 5 Tool Academy in Yorktown. The facility is run by former Muncie Northside High School and University of South Carolina player Mark Taylor. The Delaware County Hall of Famer has a son — Jackson Taylor — on the team at Indiana State. Tony Dungan — Clay’s father — is a 5 Tool instructor.
Before heading to Arizona, Dungan expects to go to PRP Baseball at Mojo Up Fieldhouse in Noblesville, Ind., for live at-bats against top-notch professional and college pitchers.
“It’s definitely fun to get some live reps before spring training,” says Dungan.
A lefty-swinger at the plate, Dungan has played shortstop, second base, third base and in the outfield in the pros.
“It’s basically wherever I’m needed,” says Dungan, 27. “I try to practice every position. In college, our coaching staff did a good job of moving us around. Even if we were an everyday (player) we’d go all over the diamond and get reps.”
In 2023, the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder played 33 games at second base and 25 each at shortstop and third base. He tends to use a Rawlings Heart Of The Hide 11.5 for all three.
As a hitter, Dungan wields a club made by Homewood (Ill.) Bat Co.
Dungan was in 389 games as Royals farmhand and hit .272 (387-of-1,422) with 23 home runs, 14 triples, 72 doubles, 176 runs batted in, 245 runs scored, 70 stolen bases and a .747 OPS (.356 on-base percentage plus .391 slugging average).
While dealing with the effects of a broken hamate bone in his right wrist — an injury suffered during spring training — Dungan got into his first regular-season game on May 5 and logged 89 games with the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers in 2023, positing a
.273 (74-of-271) average with three homers, one triple, 14 doubles, 30 RBIs, 50 runs, 16 steals and a .751 OPS (.386/.365).
“When I came back (from injury), the most-painful thing was pulling the ball,” says Dungan. “I went opposite field pretty much all year.
“It helps in the long run. (In 2024,) I hope to keep that opposite-field approach and am still able to pull the ball with power.”
Comparing and contrasting college to pro ball, Dungan says college mixes classes and other things with baseball activity while pro is focused on the sport with games almost everyday.
Then there’s the relievers coming into the contest. In the pros, they all throw in the upper 90’s and usually have wicked breaking stuff.
“From top to bottom it’s just better,” says Dungan. “That’s the way the game is going. There are so many people throwing hard now.
“There’s so much technology that pitchers get really good at tunneling their pitches. Everything looks the same the first, 20, 30, 40 feet or so.”
Before starting his pro career, Dungan completed all but a semester of student teaching to finish a degree in Physical Education for grades K-12 from Indiana State.
For the past two years, Clay has been married to the former Alexis Higgins. She played softball at Terre Haute South Vigo High School, where she graduated in 2014, and ISU — where the two met during his freshman year — and is now working in sports marketing. The couple resides in the Muncie area.
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