‘He’s a gamer’: Phillies excited about the addition of Kody Clemens

The Philadelphia Phillies lost two depth players who didn’t seem phased by big moments Saturday when they traded Matt Vierling and Nick Maton to the Detroit Tigers in a deal that netted them two-time All-Star reliever Gregory Soto.

But president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski believes that the Phillies acquired another utility player capable of contributing to a roster with World Series aspirations in the form of Kody Clemens.

You know the story of Kody’s father, Roger. One of the most polarizing stars that the game has ever seen, Roger won a record seven Cy Young Awards during his illustrious (but probably tainted) playing career, taking home the honor as a member of four different teams — the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Houston Astros.

But what about the youngest of the 11-time All-Star’s children intrigues the Phillies?

“We really like Kody Clemens,” Dombrowski said via Zoom Saturday afternoon. “He was a third-round draft choice a few years ago. I know I was with the Red Sox at the time and we really liked him coming out and we were hopeful that we could draft him. [Instead], the Tigers took him at the top of the third round.”

Dombrowski also said that when he reached out to scouting director Brian Barber, he was told that the Yankees — who then employed Barber as their national crosschecker — also had hoped to draft Clemens in the third round of the 2018 MLB Draft, only to see the Tigers take him before they had the chance.

Kody was initially drafted by the Houston Astros in the 35th round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of Memorial High School in Houston. Rather than signing, Clemens chose to play collegiately at the University of Texas.

In three seasons as a Longhorn, Clemens slashed .284/.375/.513 with 34 home runs and 123 RBIs. At one of the best collegiate programs in the country, Clemens was named both the Offensive Player of the Year and MVP by his coaching staff after hitting .351 and driving in 72 runs in his junior year of 2018.

“He was a very successful college player,” Dombrowski continued. “He’s a good player, he’s a gamer. He’s versatile — he came up more as a second baseman … he can play third … he can play first … he can play the corners in the outfield.

“He did not do well at the big league level last year in a very limited number of appearances. But he’s got some pop. He’s a winning-type player. He’s a gamer.”

As Dombrowski alluded to, Clemens struggled in his first Major League action this past season, hitting just .145 and striking out 33 times in 117 at-bats.

With that said, he also homered five times in those 117 at-bats with the Tigers, and was very productive at the Triple-A level. In 60 games for the Toledo Mudhens in 2022, Clemens homered 13 times, drove in 43 runs and posted an .862 OPS.

Dombrowski said that the Phillies had even more insight into both Clemens and Soto than typical trade targets because special assignment scout David Chadd — hired by the Phillies this past November — had previously been the assistant general manager for the Tigers.

What they learned in doing research on the 26-year-old is that they think he has the perfect mix of power and positional flexibility — he played at first base, second base, third base and left field for the Tigers in 2022 — that could allow him to slide into a role similar to the one Maton played over the past two seasons.

“We really like him a lot,” Dombrowski said. “We think he has a chance to be a very helpful player with his versatility. He’s got some pop in his bat too; you look at his numbers and the number of balls he hit out of the ballpark at the Triple-A level, and even some at the big league level. Kevin Long had a chance to take a look at him, he likes his swing. So we like a lot of things about him.”

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