Detroit Tigers have to be expecting more from prospect Kody Clemens

The Detroit Tigers used a third-round draft choice from the 2018 First-Year Amateur Player Draft to select Kody Clemens, an infielder from the University of Texas (at Austin). The son of former MLB pitcher and almost Hall of Famer, Roger Clemens has not quite lived up to the expectations.

There was hope that the Detroit Tigers scooped up another quality infielder to add to the organization moving forward; however, Kody Clemens has not lived up to the hype. After spending three years with the organization, he is still looking to make his debut or prove worthy of a promotion.

He spent the summer of 2021 with the Toledo Mud Hens and was mediocre. Almost a year ago to the day, I wrote about Clemens being a player to watch at the Triple-A level going into the season, where I compared his upside to that of Jonathan Schoop.

A year later, I’m going to say that he needs to improve to hit that mark, and a career as a mediocre second baseman is in his path if nothing changes. There’s time to change this or improve this, but this will require him to make some strides during the 2022 season.

Detroit Tigers have to set the bar high with Kody Clemens.

In 2021, he was not tearing the cover off the baseball, but he did show more of a power threat, starting to really pick up some home runs and drive in runs overall. In 2021, Clemens would log 100 total games where he had .245/.309/.458 with 18 home runs, 39 extra-base hits, and 61 RBI on the season.

As mentioned above, Clemens tapped into some more power this season, and this may be a way for him to earn a shot at the next level. If Clemens can bring up that average and continue to hit for power and feature the pop in his game, he’s going to be someone the Tigers are eager to give a shot.

The performance he has shown to this point has not been bad or something worth moving on from, but he has to start improving if he is going to live up to the expectations he had. In 2020, pre-pandemic times, Detroit Jock City Co-Site Expert Bob Heyrman and I had Clemens had him in the organization’s top 20 prospects.

Heading into 2022, the same may not be able to be said, though he’s likely in that range but could be higher. Whenever things really get going for the 2022 season, outside of mini-camp, the Tigers organization has to be hoping that Clemens improves.