Wikipedia

Kody Clemens

Not to be confused with Koby Clemens.

Kody Alec Clemens (born May 15, 1996) is an American professional baseball infielder and outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Detroit Tigers. Clemens is the son of seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens.

Kody Clemens
Clemens with the Toledo Mud Hens in 2021
Philadelphia Phillies – No. 2
Infielder / Outfielder
Born: (1996-05-15) May 15, 1996 (age 28)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 31, 2022, for the Detroit Tigers
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.200
Home runs14
Runs batted in48
Teams

Clemens played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns. He was selected by the Tigers with the 79th overall pick of the 2018 MLB draft.[1] He made his major league debut for the Tigers in 2022, and was traded to Philadelphia after the 2022 season.

Early life

edit

Clemens attended Memorial High School in Houston, Texas.[2][3] Playing for the school's baseball team, he batted .553 during his senior season.[4] He was named first team all-district selection in 2013 and was a Perfect Game Honorable Mention for high school in 2013 and 2014. He committed to the University of Texas at Austin to play college baseball for the Texas Longhorns.[5]

College career

edit

As a freshman in 2016 he batted with a .242 batting average and five home runs. As a sophomore in 2017, Clemens underwent Tommy John surgery.[6][7] However, Clemens did play as the team's designated hitter. Clemens had a breakout junior season, batting .352 with 23 home runs. These stats earned him Big 12 player of the week.[8] On June 7, 2018, Clemens was named a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.[9]

Professional career

edit

Draft and minor leagues

edit

The Detroit Tigers selected Clemens in the third round, with the 79th overall pick, in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.[1] He received a $600,000 signing bonus[10] and made his professional debut with the West Michigan Whitecaps of the Single–A Midwest League.[11] He was promoted to the Lakeland Flying Tigers of the High–A Florida State League in August. In 52 total games between the two clubs, Clemens slashed .288/.365/.450 with five home runs and 20 RBIs.[12] Clemens began 2019 with Lakeland,[13] before being promoted to the Double–A Erie SeaWolves at the end of the season. Over 128 games between both teams, he batted .231/.310/.397 with 12 home runs and 63 RBIs.

In July 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire minor league baseball season was canceled. Rather than sit idle, Clemens signed on to play for Team Texas of the Constellation Energy League, a makeshift four-team independent league.[2] He was subsequently named MVP of his team.[14] Clemens spent the 2021 season with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, slashing .247/.312/.466 with 18 home runs and 59 RBIs in 97 games. He was selected to the 40-man roster following the season on November 19, 2021.[15] Clemens returned to Toledo for the start of the 2022 season.[16]

Detroit Tigers (2022)

edit

On May 30, 2022, the Tigers promoted Clemens to the major leagues when Robbie Grossman was placed on the injured list.[16] On June 13, Clemens recorded his first major league hit, a single off of Lance Lynn of the Chicago White Sox. [17] Two days later Clemens made his major league pitching debut in a game in which the Tigers were being blown out and used position three position players to pitch after the game was out of reach, thus saving the bullpen. Clemens pitched one inning, soft tossing on orders of manager A. J. Hinch, and gave up one run.[18] On June 25, Clemens hit his first major league home run, a three-run, go-ahead shot off of Joe Mantiply of the Arizona Diamondbacks, helping the Tigers win the game by a 6 to 3 score.[19] Clemens was optioned back down to Toledo on July 12,[20] but recalled nine days later.[21] On September 5, Clemens again pitched in a rout of the Tigers, and while once again soft tossing, recorded the first MLB strikeout of his brief pitching career, against the 2021 American League MVP Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels.[22] On October 4, Clemens hit his first career slam off of Seattle Mariners starter Justus Sheffield.[23]

Philadelphia Phillies (2023)

edit

On January 7, 2023, the Tigers traded Clemens and pitcher Gregory Soto to the Philadelphia Phillies for outfielder Matt Vierling, infielder Nick Maton, and catcher Donny Sands.[24] Clemens was optioned to the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs to begin the 2023 season [25] but was recalled on April 7.[26] On July 2, Clemens was sent back to the Triple-A, where he would remain for the rest of the season. In 47 games, he had hit .230 with four home runs and 13 RBI.[27]

Clemens was again optioned to Triple–A Lehigh Valley to begin the 2024 season.[28] After Bryce Harper was placed on paternity leave, Clemens was recalled from Lehigh Valley for 3 games.[29] On May 18, Clemens hit a game-tying homerun with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning with the Phillies down 3-2 vs. the Washington Nationals. The Phillies would go on to win the game, 4-3.[30]

Personal life

edit

Clemens is the son of former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens.[31] Clemens has three brothers: Koby, Kory, and Kacy. Koby also played baseball professionally. All four have names starting with the letter "K", which in baseball scorekeeping designates a strikeout.[32]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Tigers pick Kody Clemens with 79th overall pick". June 6, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Kody Clemens College, Minor & Independent Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  3. ^ Lapin, Elliott; writer, Staff (June 11, 2020). "Memorial alum selected in MLB draft". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  4. ^ "Kody Clemens' (Houston, TX) Baseball Stats". MaxPreps.[dead link‍]
  5. ^ "Kody Clemens - Baseball". University of Texas Athletics. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  6. ^ "Texas 3B Kody Clemens to undergo Tommy John surgery". Burnt Orange Nation. August 16, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  7. ^ Christian Red (August 16, 2016). "Roger Clemens' son and Texas Longhorns infielder Kody to undergo Tommy John surgery". NY Daily News. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  8. ^ "After being named the Big 12's top player for this past week, will Kody Clemens win annual award?". Austin-American Statesman. May 21, 2018. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  9. ^ "Kody Clemens a finalist for Golden Spikes, Dick Howser awards". Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  10. ^ "Kody Clemens forgoes senior season, signs with the Detroit Tigers | The Daily Texan". Dailytexanonline.com. June 25, 2018. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  11. ^ "Kody Clemens looks to settle in, not settle down with Whitecaps". MLive.com. July 1, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  12. ^ "Kody Clemens Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  13. ^ "Projecting Tigers minor league rosters: The 2019 Lakeland Flying Tigers". March 26, 2019.
  14. ^ "Constellation Energy League Team MVPs". Sugar Land Skeeters. September 2, 2020. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
  15. ^ "Tigers' Kody Clemens: Joins 40-man roster". November 19, 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Injuries & Moves: Kody Clemens recalled; Grossman on IL". MLB.com. May 30, 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  17. ^ Woodbery, Evan (June 13, 2022). "Watch Tigers rookie Kody Clemens get his first MLB hit". MLive. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  18. ^ "Roger Clemens' son, who is not a pitcher, makes MLB pitching debut". June 16, 2022.
  19. ^ Bordow, Scott (June 26, 2022). "Clemens' first career homer lifts Tigers over D-Backs 6-3". The Seatle Times. Associated Press. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  20. ^ Petzold, Evan. "Detroit Tigers call back Akil Baddoo to big leagues: 'We need guys that are playing good'". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  21. ^ Woodbery, Evan (July 21, 2022). "Tigers promote 2 infielders to start 2nd half of season". mlive. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  22. ^ "Kody Clemens, son of MLB legend Roger Clemens, gets 1st strikeout vs. Ohtani". upi.com. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  23. ^ McCosky, Chris (October 5, 2022). "Swept in Seattle, Tigers waste Kody Clemens' grand slam in nightcap". detroitnews.com. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  24. ^ Rogers, Anne (January 7, 2023). "Tigers trade Gregory Soto to Phillies". MLB.com. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  25. ^ "Phillies' Kody Clemens: Bound for Triple-A". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  26. ^ Seidman, Corey (April 7, 2023). "Phillies call up Kody Clemens, start him at 1B right away". NBC Sports Philadelphia. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  27. ^ "Phillies' Kody Clemens: Bound for minors". cbssports.com. July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  28. ^ "Phillies' Kody Clemens: Sent to minor-league camp". CBSSports.com. March 24, 2024. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  29. ^ Dougherty, Tom (April 22, 2024). "Philadelphia Phillies place Bryce Harper on paternity list, recall Kody Clemens - CBS Philadelphia". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  30. ^ Casella, Paul (May 19, 2024). "Bryce Harper, Kody Clemens key Phillies' walk-off win vs. Nationals". MLB.com. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  31. ^ Levine, Amanda (May 4, 2021). "Roger Clemens sees bright future for his son, Mud Hens infielder Kody Clemens". toledoblade.com.
  32. ^ Axisa, Mike (May 30, 2022). "Tigers promote Kody Clemens, Roger's youngest son, to MLB roster". CBS Sports. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Kody_Clemens&oldid=1254014934"