Kody Clemens - What does he got?

[bean5302]

Kody Clemens is the kind of journeyman cast off not expected to do much or provide anything more than cheap, temporary utility to a team like the Twins. As a 3rd round pick way back in 2018, Clemens' potential faded quickly once he reached the high minors, and that's reflected in Detroit holding off on calling his number until Clemens hit age 26 in 2022 where the response from Clemens was a poor 14% line drive rate, and 6% BB vs 26% K rate coinciding, naturally, with a pretty miserable .252 xwOBA. The Tigers case Clemens off in a fairly minimal value swap involving a bunch of guys looking for a change of scenery.

Clemens hasn't walked much and he's been easy to strikeout throughout his high minors/MLB career. It's a bad combo unless you have elite power or line drive rates, neither of which Clemens can claim. That's not to say Clemens has no pop as his max exit velocities probably put him into a 55 grade raw power. He's been prone to ground ball-itis, and no matter how hard you hit those balls, lots of grounders generally equal low AVG and low SLG (Correa).

When it comes to defense, Clemens also has about a 55 grade run tool with his sprint speeds typically in the mid/upper 27 ft/sec range which is a bit above MLB average, but his arm is 40 grade, at best as he struggles to get throws above 80mph.

Clemens has also seen 415 PA in his MLB career so it's not like he's been given no chances at all. Still a small sample size considering this is his 4th season seeing action in MLB. There should be no expectations for Clemens, but there are at least some things about him which are fun to think about.

First, his exit velocities are very good, his barrel rates and hard hit rates are also decent suggesting there's enough raw tools to provide some value. Clemens' plate discipline has improved a bit as well as his O-contact rates have increased a bit. In addition, there aren't any pitches which stand out as obvious weaknesses for Clemens. It's not like there's a pitch where he's a guaranteed out. (i.e. slider down and away = strike 3 for Miguel Sano).

Unfortunately, Clemens still refuses to take walks, and despite historically being pretty aggressive, he's caught looking far too frequently. Clemens hasn't covered the strike zone particularly well, either, struggling with balls in the upper portion of the zone where a guy who hits a lot of ground balls should be able to do better damage.

I don't think there's any reason to suspect Clemens will be serviceable as a significant player at the MLB level without a swing change, but there's at least enough of something there to suggest an adjustment could provide some value as a cheap utility guy. He's kind of the opposite of Mickey Gasper in a lot of ways while getting to the same value spot?

[Richie the Rally Goat]

His .615 OPS ranks 11 on this team, one and two on the list are injured…. 
 

he can help for the time being, that’s plenty from him

[DJL44]

I expect to see Bader, Castro, and France dealt. Kody Clemens might be needed as a warm body to finish the season.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

3 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I expect to see Bader, Castro, and France dealt. Kody Clemens might be needed as a warm body to finish the season.

We are 15-20 in early may.  My guess is we are 5 games over .500 by the end of June,  I doubt we will be selling then.  This game is still about pitching and we will get enough hitting as some of our reinforcements begin to get healthy.  

[jorgenswest]

@bean5302

Do you think Bride is a better fit on the bench over Clemens? Would you be more optimistic about Bride?

Positionally Bride, Clemens, Gasper and Julien have so much overlap and maybe only one is needed.

Short of Wallner or Keaschall returning is there a better option for the bench than keeping two of those four?

[RpR]

Clemens has a good glove.

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, jorgenswest said:

@bean5302

Do you think Bride is a better fit on the bench over Clemens? Would you be more optimistic about Bride?

Positionally Bride, Clemens, Gasper and Julien have so much overlap and maybe only one is needed.

Short of Wallner or Keaschall returning is there a better option for the bench than keeping two of those four?

I'd take Clemens over Bride at DH/1B, but Bride has better utility, not that any team should be having both of them on the 26 man.

There's at least some underlying value in Clemens' bat. With Bride, any production looks like its been all fluff. Last year, Bride had really great production in a fairly large sample size, but it was all smoke and mirrors. .276/.357/.461 OPS .818. 11% BB, 20% K. It all looks pretty good. Sample size? 272 PA. Small-ish, but starting to approach what should be a pretty steady number. BABIP even looks reasonable at .306. Until you see the wOBA .351 vs xwOBA .297 because of his poor line drive rate, sky high ground ball rate and also sky high pop up rate. Mean and max exit velocities were below average as well so there's a fairly low ceiling on Bride's bat. I think Bride is kind of interchangeable with Mickey Gasper.

[jaimedude]

2 hours ago, RpR said:

Clemens has a good glove.

I agree, Clemens seems to have range, decent speed, and a strong arm.  If he can hit a little and get on base he can help the Twins. Seems like he and Bride are competing for same roster spot. 

[bean5302]

11 hours ago, jaimedude said:

..., and a strong arm...

One of the weakest arms in baseball by the throwing speeds, actually.

[Road trip]

11 hours ago, jaimedude said:

I agree, Clemens seems to have range, decent speed, and a strong arm.  If he can hit a little and get on base he can help the Twins. Seems like he and Bride are competing for same roster spot. 

One would have thought so, but it's Julien who lost the spot, for now at least.

The home run at Fenway was likely peak Clemens with the Twins.  It was a good moment, to be sure.

Clemens, Bride, Gasper... all will likely be in a different (minor league) uniform in 2026.  "Enjoy" them while we've got them?