Kody Alec Clemens (born May 15, 1996) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. Clemens is the son of seven time Cy Young Award winner

Roger Clemens William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox. Clemens was one of the most dominant pi ...

. Clemens played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

. He was selected by the Tigers with the 79th overall pick of the 2018 MLB draft. He made his major league debut for the Tigers in 2022, and was traded to Philadelphia after the 2022 season.

Amateur career

Clemens attended Memorial High School in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Playing for the school's baseball team, he batted .553 during his senior season. 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 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

to play

for the

. As a freshman in 2016, batted with a .242 batting average and five

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s. As a sophomore in 2017, Clemens underwent Tommy John surgery. 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. On June 7, 2018, Clemens was named a finalist for the

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...

and the

Dick Howser Trophy The Dick Howser Trophy is bestowed annually to the national college baseball player of the year. The award is named after former collegiate and Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager Dick Howser, who died of brain cancer in 1987 at the a ...

Professional career

Detroit Tigers

Draft and minor leagues

The

selected Clemens in the third round, with the 79th overall pick, in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. He received a $600,000 signing bonus and made his professional debut with the

West Michigan Whitecaps The West Michigan Whitecaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Comstock Park, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and play their home games at LMCU Ballpa ...

of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

. He was promoted to the

Lakeland Flying Tigers The Lakeland Flying Tigers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Lakeland, Florida, and play their home games at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. H ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

in August. In 52 total games between the two clubs, Clemens slashed .288/.365/.450 with five home runs and 20 RBIs. Clemens began 2019 with Lakeland, before being promoted to the

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving ...

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, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Clemens signed on to play for Team Texas of the

Constellation Energy League The Constellation Energy League was an independent baseball league that operated in Texas during 2020 because of COVID-19 restrictions limiting travel, and as a way to create opportunities for minor league players. History The league consisted of ...

, a makeshift four-team independent league, for the season. He was subsequently named MVP of his team. Clemens spent the 2021 season with the Triple-A

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

, 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. Clemens returned to Toledo for the start of the 2022 season.

Major Leagues

On May 30, 2022, the Tigers promoted Clemens to the major leagues when

Robbie Grossman Robert Edward Grossman (born September 16, 1989) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Detroit Tig ...

was placed on the injured list. On June 13, 2022, Clemens got his first hit of his career, a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

off of

Lance Lynn Michael Lance Lynn (born May 12, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers. ...

of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

. On June 15, Clemens made his major league pitching debut and gave up one run in one inning of work. On June 25th, 2022, Clemens hit a three-run, go-ahead home run versus the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

. This was his first home run in his career. Clemens was optioned back down to Toledo on July 12 but recalled on July 21. Clemens recorded his first MLB career strikeout on September 6, 2022 against the 2021

American League MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' ...

Shohei Ohtani , nicknamed "Shotime", is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher, designated hitter and outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional ...

of the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

Philadelphia Phillies

On January 7, 2023, the Tigers traded Clemens and pitcher

Gregory Soto Gregory Soto (born February 11, 1995) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers, with whom he debuted for in 2019. He is a two- ...

to the

for outfielder

Matt Vierling Matthew Gregory Vierling (born September 16, 1996) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at the University of Notre Dame. The Philadelphia Phillie ...

, infielder

Nick Maton Nicholas Maton ( ; born February 18, 1997) is an American professional baseball utility player for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at Eastern Illinois University and Lincoln Land Community College. Ma ...

, and catcher Donny Sands.

Personal life

Clemens is the son of former MLB pitcher

. Clemens has three brothers:

Koby KOBY (940 AM) was an American radio station broadcasting an Oldies format. It was licensed to Cedar City, Utah. The license and the callsign have been deleted by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. History The station used to be known ...

, Kory, and Kacy. Koby also played baseball professionally. All four have names starting with the letter "K", which in

baseball scorekeeping Baseball scorekeeping is the practice of recording the details of a baseball game as it unfolds. Professional baseball leagues hire official scorers to keep an official record of each game (from which a box score can be generated), but many fans k ...

designates a

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

References

External links

Texas Longhorns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clemens, Kody 1996 births Living people Baseball players from Houston Major League Baseball second basemen Detroit Tigers players Texas Longhorns baseball players West Michigan Whitecaps players Lakeland Flying Tigers players Erie SeaWolves players Toledo Mud Hens players All-American college baseball players Memorial High School (Hedwig Village, Texas) alumni