In a move that not all Philadelphia Phillies fans were behind, the team DFA'd Kody Clemens earlier this month and subsequently traded him to the Minnesota Twins three days later. Sure, Clemens didn't have much of a role in Philadelphia, but some Phillies fans always thought he might thrive if given an opportunity.
Well, in Minnesota, he's done just that. He isn't the sole reason that the Twins have completely turned their season around, but he's certainly played a large role.
In hindsight, the Phillies likely regret not giving Clemens more of a shot.
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Kody Clemens is thriving with first opportunity with consistent playing time
I mean, these numbers speak for themselves. Since being traded to the Twins, Clemens is hitting well over .300, has gotten on base nearly 40 percent of the time and has an OPS over 1.000. Since the trade, Clemens' 200 WRC+ ranks eighth in the Majors among those with at least 50 plate appearances. The sample size is rather small still, but it's getting harder to ignore what he's been doing in Minnesota.
Clemens never hit this well in Philadelphia, but he did have a .706 OPS last season in 43 games played, making him only slightly below-average as a hitter. If he was able to do that without playing regularly, there was reason to believe he could be an average or above-average hitter with more opportunity.
Unfortunately for Clemens, that opportunity never did and never was going to come. He primarily plays the two positions on the right side of the infield or in the corner outfield. Well, the Phillies have Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott manning the right side of their infield, and have Max Kepler and Nick Castellanos as their corner outfielders. Clemens could DH as well, but Kyle Schwarber is as good as it gets at that position.
Another thing that held Clemens back was the fact that he is a left-handed hitter. The Phillies happen to be a very left-handed heavy team, so it's not as if he could platoon with a guy like Kepler or Brandon Marsh.
Ultimately, Clemens' role was reduced to being an occasional pinch-hitter for the most part. Without many guys worth pinch-hitting for in this Phillies lineup, he had little to no chance to play, which is a big reason why he was limited to only seven plate appearances this season for Philadelphia.
In an ideal world, he'd be kept around as depth in case of an injury, but the fact that he was out of options meant sending him down wasn't possible without waivers. It's hard to blame the Phillies for not playing him, given the options that they have at the positions he plays, but had they known he'd be this productive with somewhat regular playing time, they might've tried a bit harder to find a way to get his bat into the lineup.