Rewrite Your Scouting Reports: Kody Clemens Has New Bat Speed, and the Power to Match

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Kody Clemens came up big for the Twins Wednesday. with a three-run eighth-inning homer that gave the team a lead and launched them to their 10th straight win. That was fitting, because it was also a home run by Clemens (in the sixth inning of the Twins' May 3 game at Fenway Park) that effectively began the streak. A near-desperation pickup during the period when the Twins weren't sure of the statuses of either WIlli Castro or Carlos Correa and were unable to backfill their depleted roster with good options in their own system, Clemens has given them more than they might have fairly hoped for.

In 25 plate appearances with the Twins, Clemens is batting .227/.320/.591. He's struck out six times, but he also has two doubles, two home runs, one walk and two times hit by pitches. Don't expect the Twins to hand him an everyday job, or anything. He's a role player, with a relatively small role, at that. If he can continue filling in this impressively, though, it will have an outsized impact on the Twins' rebound from their season's woeful start.

Normally, it's a good idea to brush off a couple of big hits like this (from a player who turns 29 years old today) as fun and valuable but meaningless variance. Anchoring player evaluations to even huge homers like these two is a bad idea, and Clemens supplanting any of the younger players on the Twins roster would be foolish, if the time ever comes when several of those younger guys are hitting well and feeling healthy at the same time. In this case, though, there's some evidence that Clemens has undergone a real change. It might not make him a worthy starter, but we should try to get a firm understanding of it.

In 2024, Clemens had 208 tracked, competitive swings in the big leagues. They averaged 70.5 mph of swing speed, and a 7.3-foot swing length. Only 4.3% of his swings topped 75 mph, where real damage becomes much more frequent. He generated an average exit velocity of 89.4 mph, and maxed out at 108.4 mph. His production was lousy, even for a bench player, because he strikes out too much and hits for too low a batting average to make up for such modest power indicators.

This year, things are different. It's only been 42 tracked, competitive swings, but he's averaged 73.1 mph of swing speed and a slightly shorter swing length of 7.2 feet. A solid 16.7% of his swings have crossed that 75-mph threshold. His average exit velocity is 92 mph, and he's already set a new career max for exit velocity on an individual batted ball (109.0 mph), albeit by a tiny amount. 

Clemens doesn't have enough plate appearances to qualify for the leaderboard on Baseball Savant, but if he did, he'd have the fourth-largest change in bat speed from 2024 to 2025, behind only Nolan Schanuel, Brice Turang and Anthony Volpe. Those three younger hitters are all varying degrees of famous for having come into this season with overhauled swings, new quasi-magical bats, or a mere intention to do more damage. Turang hit just seven home runs all last season. This year, he's already cracked three. Volpe is already halfway to his total of 12 home runs from last year, and has 12 doubles to his name, too. Bat speed is good. Increasing bat speed, as long as it doesn't cost one the ability to put the bat on the ball, is a key way to reach a new gear at the plate.

Without an overhauled approach, Clemens still doesn't need to be part of the regular lineup. He strikes out a lot and walks very rarely. He's a bit of a mess at the plate. This season, though, he's become a much more dangerous mess. That's worth celebrating. The Twins helped him start going out and getting the ball better; his contact point has moved 2.9 inches toward the pitcher and 1.9 inches away from his center of mass than it was when he was with the Phillies, even earlier this year. That number is still likely to fluctuate quite a bit, given how small his sample of work with Minnesota is, so let's not get bogged down in it. The change in bat speed, however, can already be said to be very real. Because it's almost entirely within the hitter's control and not something that intentionally varies as widely from one pitch to the next as, say, pitch velocity, bat speed becomes telling over even very small samples.

Right now, Clemens is switching a quick stick—so much faster than in the past, and so far beyond the big-league average, that he can't help but run into some power. He's done it at truly perfect times for the Twins over the last week and a half. At this point, they have to expand his role just a little bit, to see how well he holds onto this progress and what further game-breaking value they can extract from it. This great an improvement in bat speed is worth a full scouting grade on the power scale, and if he keeps it, that pop will come in handy again before long.

View full article

[thelanges5]

Time to get my Clemens City Connect jersey. 

[Blyleven2011]

A dangerous mess in a small sample size with the twins , he's a good bench player ...

He is not a first basemen ...

[HrbieFan]

Not much bat and the glove is full of errors. I'd rather see McCusker get some run 

[Doctor Wu]

An interesting and unexpected analysis. I only hope that this sudden increase in bat speed corelates to more hits and run production. Hey, maybe he's one of those late bloomers that only needed a chance with a new team. I'm not too excited yet, but he's getting some timely hits lately for sure. 

[Whitey333]

Clemens has been a very reliable and valuable addition .  Plus he's produced some big help in tough situations at the plate.  But he sure isn't a defensive help especially at 1st base.  But thank you Kody for helping us out in this nice 10 game winning streak.

[Parfigliano]

Amazing what a change of scenery and where the hands are when a player starts a swing will do.

[Doctor Gast]

IMO, in the MLB for per se rookies, it's a matter of getting regular ABs & patience from the organization to continue to give them regular ABs until they get adjusted to MLB. If not, they are doomed. Once they get adjusted & more confident, then comes the quicker bat speed. Fortunate for Clemens, the Twins gave him that opportunity.

[MMMordabito]

Uptick in bat speed, eh? 

I remember when I got into my parent's medicine cabinet. 😉

[bean5302]

 

Not much bat and the glove is full of errors... 

OAA career: 1B +4, 2B +4, 3B -2
UZR/150 career: 1B +1.7, 2B -2.8, -3.2
Fielding Pct: 1B .998, 2B 1.000, 3B .925

If you're going to randomly make stuff up to trash talk a player, you're going to get called out a bit.
 

[jorgenswest]

@Matthew Trueblood How many swings before a swing speed change becomes reliable? It seems like it wouldn’t need a very large sample.

[bean5302]

Clemens' top swings didn't change much in bat speed. He really just cut out the slow swings for the most part. Also, his production in 2024 was not "lousy, even for a bench player," but the expected metrics do say he should have been lousy.  He went .219/.258/.447 OPS .706 wRC+ 92 at the plate in 2024 with a 24.2% K rate. 

Twins players who were worse at the plate. Vazquez, Lee, Margot, Julien, Kirilloff, Farmer.
Twins players who were essentially on par: Kepler, Martin.

Clemens has solid exit velocity, and probably a tick above average raw power, and he's been able to handle 2B defensively so there are some tools in the shed. His unwillingness to take free passes cripples his production. The biggest change in a SSSS this year is he's laying off pitches out of the zone better rather than committing to a desperate, awkward, slow swing at a ball he can't even touch which results in a bump in bat speed.

Can he sustain it? I mean... he's 29 so probably not, but there's a chance.

[jmlease1]

It's pretty small samples so far, so who knows. But if his bat speed has legitimately improved and he can make enough contact, he could be a useful bench bat. His general disinterest in taking a walk will definitely limit his upside, though. But maybe they can improve that for him, you never know. I'm not buying any real estate on Kody Clemens Island or anything. He's got some positional flexibility, which again, helps make him potentially viable as a bench bat. But if he falls off the table with an 0-22 stretch, he's probably a guy you can let go.

[Schmoeman5]

 

OAA career: 1B +4, 2B +4, 3B -2
UZR/150 career: 1B +1.7, 2B -2.8, -3.2
Fielding Pct: 1B .998, 2B 1.000, 3B .925

If you're going to randomly make stuff up to trash talk a player, you're going to get called out a bit.
 

Oh man. You really showed him how WRONG he was with that .925 fielding % at 3rd base. I know a player whose fielding % is 1.000 for the past 2 seasons and isn't known for being a strong defender.

[LambchoP]

Bat speed increase or not, I don't have much hope for Clemens. He sure didn't look good at first base yesterday missing two easy scoop plays. I've got to believe there are better options out there for our bench than Clemens, Keirsey and Bride. I'd try Mccusker over Keirsey, especially if Bader will be out a few days. As for infielders, Julien or Miranda don't inspire much confidence either, but they're better than Bride right? We need Keaschal back. Suddenly our IF doesn't look as deep. Especially with Correa struggling still and Lewis looking like he needs some time in AAA, there's just nobody viable to replace him short term.

[Riverbrian]

Loved his home run yesterday. And I loved his home run against Boston. He's has directly helped us win two games because it can be argued that we don't win those games without his two late game dingers and that's pretty good small sample return on the investment when you consider that he has only been on the roster for 17 games and only started 8. 

While I have stated issues that I had with his addition to the roster and I still have those same issues. That issue is simply trusting him over trusting someone in our system and what that says about the system.

WhiIe, I have stated that concern... I am pulling for the guy. If he found a light switch at age 29 and that's possible. Maybe... Maybe Not... He could be back with us next year and beyond at the league minimum salary.

I would have went with McCusker instead but... if Clemons is going to get the job done. Let him get the job done. Go get em Kody!   

[DJL44]

 

Oh man. You really showed him how WRONG he was with that .925 fielding % at 3rd base. I know a player whose fielding % is 1.000 for the past 2 seasons and isn't known for being a strong defender.

You sure picked that cherry.

[LastOnePicked]

Articles like this always make me chuckle. They pull me in with the promise that the Twins just found gold in their pan, and by the last paragraph it's always, "Don't get us wrong, this guy still pretty much stinks and will only play a few games here and there. But he might be okay."

[Schmoeman5]

The Twins picked up Clemens because they hoped he might help. He has helped. They're not expecting him to be a savior. If he struggles. They can easily cut ties. I hope he can continue to help. Everyone can see his role. It's on him to get a more expanded role. 

[bean5302]

 

...How many swings before a swing speed change becomes reliable? It seems like it wouldn’t need a very large sample.

@jorgenswest Tons if you're actually trying to quantify if a player has increased their high effort average swing speed. There are some errors in the data set which can mess things up, but in Kody Clemens' case, his max effort swing speeds remain about the same, he's just not taking soft swings as frequently. It's best to look at the bat tracking charts on Baseballsavant to compare previous seasons to current in this case. The chart does show a much smaller, but significant boost to his upper range swing speeds.

Since Baseballsavant isn't loading properly right now, you might not be able to see it.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/kody-clemens-665019?stats=statcast-r-bat_tracking-mlb

[jorgenswest]

 

@jorgenswest Tons if you're actually trying to quantify if a player has increased their high effort average swing speed. There are some errors in the data set which can mess things up, but in Kody Clemens' case, his max effort swing speeds remain about the same, he's just not taking soft swings as frequently. It's best to look at the bat tracking charts on Baseballsavant to compare previous seasons to current in this case. The chart does show a much smaller, but significant boost to his upper range swing speeds.

Since Baseballsavant isn't loading properly right now, you might not be able to see it.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/kody-clemens-665019?stats=statcast-r-bat_tracking-mlb

Is there a source and number that goes with tons? I found this by Fangraphs contributer Kiri Oler.

[twinstalker]

25 plate appearances.  But let's pretend that means something so I can say this:

A guy like this coming in shows exactly how poor the Twins hitting development has been.  We know he's bad.  We've watched him for years.  Bring him here, and he's immediately better than 3-4 guys we were playing.