Kody Clemens Has Become the Twins' X-Factor

[Sam Caulder]

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

For much of the 2026 season, the Twins have been searching for consistency in the middle of their lineup. Injuries, cold streaks, and underperforming veterans have all played a role in the team’s uneven offensive production. But while much of the attention has gone elsewhere, one player has quietly emerged as one of the most important pieces on the roster: Kody Clemens. Not only has Clemens become a steady contributor offensively, but he’s also provided the Twins with strong defense and lineup flexibility—two things every contending team needs over the course of a long season.

After a sluggish start to the year, Clemens has found another level offensively over the last few weeks. He’s now slashing .245/.341/.445, while adding 14 extra-base hits and five stolen bases. Among those are a team-leading 10 doubles, highlighting just how consistently he’s been driving the baseball.

In May, Clemens is hitting .333 with eight extra-base hits, looking every bit like a hitter who has fully settled into a groove. His confidence is noticeable. He’s driving the ball with authority and showing a level of comfort that simply wasn’t there during the opening weeks of the season, when manager Derek Shelton identified him as the hitter "who maybe suffered the most" from the disruption of a bizarrely lefty-heavy stretch of the team's schedule.

Yes, the strikeouts remain somewhat concerning. Clemens is punching out at roughly a 26% clip, which is certainly higher than you’d like from an everyday player. But the overall quality of contact more than makes up for some swing-and-miss issues. In fact, the underlying metrics paint the picture of a player who has been significantly better than many fans probably realize.

Clemens currently owns a 92.4 MPH average exit velocity, which not only leads all Twins hitters, but also ranks in the 90th percentile league-wide. His equally strong barrel rate indicates that there's even more power upside here. Even when the traditional numbers looked modest earlier in the year, the expected stats suggested that better production was coming. Now, we’re starting to see those results.

Perhaps most importantly, Clemens is proving that he deserves everyday at-bats, regardless of the opposing pitcher. Historically, he’s been viewed as more of a platoon option, due to questions surrounding his production against left-handed pitching. But so far in 2026, Clemens has done nothing but silence those concerns. In a small but encouraging sample of 20 plate appearances against lefties, he’s hitting .438 with three extra-base hits and a pair of walks. While that number will obviously regress over time, it’s still an important development for both Clemens and the Twins. Shelton can and should try Clemens out against more lefties, even if the schedule turns against him again, to keep him in rhythm.

Right now, there’s a very legitimate argument that he should simply be the team’s everyday first baseman. With both Josh Bell and Victor Caratini struggling offensively in recent weeks, Clemens has clearly earned the opportunity for more consistent playing time. The production is there, the advanced metrics support it, and frankly, the eye test does too. Bell appears to be pulling out of what was a prolonged, nightmarish slump, but he can serve as the regular designated hitter. Caratini, meanwhile, will be essentially full-time at catcher while Ryan Jeffers is on the injured list.

Then there’s the defensive side of the equation, and Clemens has quietly become very reliable in the field. The Twins’ infield defense is a weakness, but Clemens has stood out as a clear exception. According to Statcast, he currently ranks in the 78th percentile in Outs Above Average, an impressive mark for a player who entered the year without an everyday role.

Now, is Clemens going to maintain an OPS near .800 for the entire season? Probably not. There will likely be some regression offensively, particularly as pitchers begin adjusting to the hot streak he’s currently enjoying. But even if he settles into the range of a .730 to .750 OPS hitter, that represents a highly valuable player, when paired with above-average defense and (at least theoretically) positional flexibility.

Clemens is certainly not a superstar. He’ll never headline the Twins’ roster or dominate national conversations. But winning teams need players exactly like this: dependable contributors who impact games in multiple ways and consistently outperform expectations.

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[HarmonK03]

On May 9th, he had a batting average of .184 and OPS of .637.  One six game hitting streak has raised that.  And now we are saying he deserves to be an every day player.  I don't mind riding the hot hand. but Clemens is a bench player who should play 3 or 4 days a week.  Because of the roster construction he is being deployed as the regular first baseman.  Bell was actually signed to be the regular first baseman.  This just means Clemens has a pretty low bar to clear to look like a regular.  There is a reason he hasn't been an every day player in his career.

I don't really mind him on the roster but we are not going to win with him as an every day player.  At some point I want this organization to either develop quality players or bring them in.  And stop dumpster diving on the waiver wire claim heap.

[LastOnePicked]

"Clemens has found another level offensively over the last few weeks. He’s now slashing .245/.341/.445, while adding 14 extra-base hits and five stolen bases."

Every now and then, a little sentence reveals so much about how a season is going so far.

He's no X-factor, but he could be a very modest trade candidate come July, which would be great.

[LA Vikes Fan]

Clemens is fine for now and filling a hole. I actually wouldn’t mind him as one of the four bench players since he can play respectable first, second, and probably third base, and a decent corner outfield. I think the hard issue here is that he really shouldn’t be starting, but we simply don’t have anybody else. I would love to see them bring up Gonzalez as a right handed hitting part tim 1B/OF/DH playing 3-4 days a week and see what he has at this stage in his career. It may be a rush, given that he hit Great last year and not so much this year. If they want to wait with him, maybe Sabato deserves at least one shot before he ages out. I know neither of those sound like great options, but it seems to me that this is the year to find out what we have.

[HarmonK03]

23 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

"Clemens has found another level offensively over the last few weeks. He’s now slashing .245/.341/.445, while adding 14 extra-base hits and five stolen bases."

Every now and then, a little sentence reveals so much about how a season is going so far.

He's no X-factor, but he could be a very modest trade candidate come July, which would be great.

He has only been hitting for the past week.  This is who Clemens is, he will have a hot streak, but then you have to live with his flyouts and strikeouts which is happens a lot when he is not going well.  He will not have trade value even for a bag of balls.

[jimmiexx]

Clemens should not be the "x factor" on any team. We were saying this last year when Kody seemed to be a breakout star - then he plummeted later in the year and finished .216/.284/.442. His career WAR total is 2 and he's 30 years old.

These are the numbers of a good bench player. Unfortunately, the Twins can't seem to even find a starter better than Clemens, so.... I guess he's the x factor, guys! 🤷‍♀️

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

On this roster, his defense alone is why I want him as the everyday 1B. I read the other day he led AL 1B with 5 OAA. The bat is currently slightly above average. I realize Bell was signed to be the starting 1B but his defense is absolutely awful and *currently* Clemens has the better bat. But even if Bell gets out of his slump and stays hot long term, I'd still prefer Clemens because of the defense. Bell can DH if his bat justifies it. 

The defense on this team has been so bad that anyone being above average with the glove should be on the field.

[Twins GFP]

2 hours ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

Clemens is fine for now and filling a hole. I actually wouldn’t mind him as one of the four bench players since he can play respectable first, second, and probably third base, and a decent corner outfield. I think the hard issue here is that he really shouldn’t be starting, but we simply don’t have anybody else. I would love to see them bring up Gonzalez as a right handed hitting part tim 1B/OF/DH playing 3-4 days a week and see what he has at this stage in his career. It may be a rush, given that he hit Great last year and not so much this year. If they want to wait with him, maybe Sabato deserves at least one shot before he ages out. I know neither of those sound like great options, but it seems to me that this is the year to find out what we have.

This is pretty accurate. The X-Factor comes in that most teams need a guy like Clemens: able to play multiple defensive positions adequately and not a complete disaster with the bat. Willi Castro v2.0.

Teams that see injuries (Jeffers) and massive underperformance (Wallner, Lewis, Caratini, and Bell for the most part) have to expect that the backups will see extended playing time.

[Linus]

 Lemons has done well for a waiver wire pickup. I would welcome him on my team as a utility man off the bench. He is not a starter on a contender. 

[Cris E]

5 hours ago, karcherd said:

On May 9th, he had a batting average of .184 and OPS of .637.  One six game hitting streak has raised that.  And now we are saying he deserves to be an every day player.  I don't mind riding the hot hand. but Clemens is a bench player who should play 3 or 4 days a week.  Because of the roster construction he is being deployed as the regular first baseman.  Bell was actually signed to be the regular first baseman.  This just means Clemens has a pretty low bar to clear to look like a regular.  There is a reason he hasn't been an every day player in his career.

I don't really mind him on the roster but we are not going to win with him as an every day player. 

This. He's not great, but everyone else sort of sucks too so why not him? At least he can field. 

A larger issue is that hitting across baseball has fallen a lot further than many people realize. The current team OPS is .708 which sounds pretty bad, but it comes out to a 98 OPS+.  The 30 team league OPS is only .709 and we're 13 of 30 which is better than I would have guessed.  For real fun go check out the league list and  you can see that 11 teams are under .700, and 5 of the bottom 9 are in the top ten payrolls. 

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, Cris E said:

This. He's not great, but everyone else sort of sucks too so why not him? At least he can field. 

A larger issue is that hitting across baseball has fallen a lot further than many people realize. The current team OPS is .708 which sounds pretty bad, but it comes out to a 98 OPS+.  The 30 team league OPS is only .709 and we're 13 of 30 which is better than I would have guessed.  For real fun go check out the league list and  you can see that 11 teams are under .700, and 5 of the bottom 9 are in the top ten payrolls. 

The .300 hitter is an endangered species at this point in time 

[Twins GFP]

1 hour ago, Cris E said:

This. He's not great, but everyone else sort of sucks too so why not him? At least he can field. 

A larger issue is that hitting across baseball has fallen a lot further than many people realize. The current team OPS is .708 which sounds pretty bad, but it comes out to a 98 OPS+.  The 30 team league OPS is only .709 and we're 13 of 30 which is better than I would have guessed.  For real fun go check out the league list and  you can see that 11 teams are under .700, and 5 of the bottom 9 are in the top ten payrolls. 

Even scarier than that:

With as many problems as the Twins have had, they are currently 2nd in the AL and 8th in MLB in runs scored.

[Parfigliano]

5 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

This is pretty accurate. The X-Factor comes in that most teams need a guy like Clemens: able to play multiple defensive positions adequately and not a complete disaster with the bat. Willi Castro v2.0.

Teams that see injuries (Jeffers) and massive underperformance (Wallner, Lewis, Caratini, and Bell for the most part) have to expect that the backups will see extended playing time.

Hey Caratini was the X factor today.

[Parfigliano]

3 hours ago, Cris E said:

This. He's not great, but everyone else sort of sucks too so why not him? At least he can field. 

A larger issue is that hitting across baseball has fallen a lot further than many people realize. The current team OPS is .708 which sounds pretty bad, but it comes out to a 98 OPS+.  The 30 team league OPS is only .709 and we're 13 of 30 which is better than I would have guessed.  For real fun go check out the league list and  you can see that 11 teams are under .700, and 5 of the bottom 9 are in the top ten payrolls. 

Hitting has fallen because every team is A-OK with every hitter K-ing 26% of their ABs.

[Vanimal46]

51 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Hitting has fallen because every team is A-OK with every hitter K-ing 26% of their ABs.

Every hitter strikes out 26% of the time because pitchers are more difficult than ever to hit against. The average pitcher in 2026 MLB throws 95 MPH fastballs along with a wide variety of pitches that move in different directions. 

[Vanimal46]

I remember watching Francisco Liriano’s wipe out 87-90 MPH slider in 2006 and being amazed someone could throw that. Now you’ll see that on any day ending in Y. 

[Cris E]

Pitching has stepped up in the past ten years and hitting is not keeping up. Everyone throws harder than ever, and on every pitch. As hard as hitting has always been, it's even worse when the fastball you have to stay ready for is 97+.  They can say guys used to throw that hard, but there's a reason only Nolan Ryan was striking guys out at the rate he did. It was pretty rare. 

[D.C Twins]

[Jeff K]

22 hours ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

Clemens is fine for now and filling a hole. I actually wouldn’t mind him as one of the four bench players since he can play respectable first, second, and probably third base, and a decent corner outfield. I think the hard issue here is that he really shouldn’t be starting, but we simply don’t have anybody else. I would love to see them bring up Gonzalez as a right handed hitting part tim 1B/OF/DH playing 3-4 days a week and see what he has at this stage in his career. It may be a rush, given that he hit Great last year and not so much this year. If they want to wait with him, maybe Sabato deserves at least one shot before he ages out. I know neither of those sound like great options, but it seems to me that this is the year to find out what we have.

Gabriel has been hitting better the past 2 weeks and hopefully a couple more weeks before calling him up.  But I prefer him to Sabato who has certainly improved the past 2 seasons, but alas, I'd prefer the youth of Gonzalez and his greater upside potential.

[NYCTK]

14 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

Hitting has fallen because every team is A-OK with every hitter K-ing 26% of their ABs.

Good new is strikeouts are actually on the decline. They peaked 2019-2021 but are currently the lowest since 2017.

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

Yes, the strikeouts remain somewhat concerning. Clemens is punching out at roughly a 26% clip, which is certainly higher than you’d like from an everyday player. 

That stat caught my eye, and I am wondering: what is that average strikeout rate for starting positional players this season?

[mluebker]

On 5/20/2026 at 2:42 PM, Linus said:

He is not a starter on a contender. 

Fortunately for him (and Twins fans), he’s not playing for a contender. At a time when there’s little to cheer about, there’s at least one guy out there who’s exceeding expectations.