In spring 2021, there wasn’t a lot for Minnesota Twins fans to cheer about. The Twins were 13-24, and all three members of the outfield landed on the injured list.
Things weren’t looking good until they called up a man referred to as “The Legend.”
Rob Refsnyder may not be as popular as other random Twins like Lew Ford and Willians Astudillo, but his cameo during the 2021 season stands out. A player caught in the area between Triple-A and the major leagues, Refsnyder flashed over his 51-game cameo, hitting .245/.325/.338 with two homers and 12 RBI.
Refsnyder’s performance didn’t help the Twins rebound from an atrocious start. But it did help the team weather the storm and give him a chance to stick around in the majors four seasons later with the Boston Red Sox.
The Twins may have a new “legend” in the making this year. On April 26, they acquired Kody Clemens from the Philadelphia Phillies for cash considerations. Still, his performance has outshone any amount of money Minnesota gave up in that deal.
He’s approaching the same bar that Refsnyder set several years ago.
Like Refsnyder, Clemens’s path to the majors was eventful. The son of legendary pitcher Roger Clemens, Kody didn’t debut until a 56-game appearance with the Detroit Tigers in 2022. He latched on with Philadelphia the following season and spent his time hitting .220/.265/.394 with nine home runs and 31 RBI in 97 games during the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
While he hadn’t had much success in the majors, he did work at Triple-A. Clemens has spent parts of four seasons in Triple-A, posting a .259/.331/.507 line with 63 home runs and 204 RBI over 287 games. Production like that, paired with struggles in the majors, gives players the dreaded “Quad-A” tag. Many of these players never get an opportunity to prove themselves.
That was the case when Clemens reported to Spring Training this year. Buried behind Edmundo Sosa and Weston Wilson on Philadelphia’s depth chart, Clemens became expendable when Weston recovered from an oblique injury. That led the Phillies to trade him to the Twins, allowing him to enter Minnesota’s lineup.
Clemens has been on fire since putting on a Twins uniform, hitting .321/.400/.736 with five home runs and 12 RBI over 21 games entering Wednesday’s series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays. His positional versatility has been a blessing for a team that has lost Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, and Matt Wallner to the injured list. Minnesota is riding the Kody Clemens wave until Buxton and Wallner return from injury.
Every team has players like this during the season. At this time one year ago, the Twins were riding several players who would get hot for a couple of weeks until the wheels fell off over the final two months. Players like Jose Miranda and Max Kepler carried the team for a minute. Still, there’s something special about when the lightbulb comes on for a journeyman player.
Remember how excited Twins fans were about Carson McCusker? His five-year journey ended with video game numbers with the St. Paul Saints and his first major league call-up earlier this month. Other players have walked this path, and that prototype helps a team win games even when things aren’t perfect.
It’s unlikely that Clemens has become a one-dot player in Minnesota. But he’s helped the Twins win games even though they’ve struggled to regain strength.
Consider that Buxton was playing some of the best baseball of his career before colliding with Correa in Baltimore. Wallner is also one of Minnesota’s best power hitters, but has been on the shelf since April with a hamstring injury. Even Luke Keaschall’s forearm fracture threw a wrench into the Twins’ plans. Still, the team has gone 20-8 since Clemens arrived in Minnesota.
It’s not something that will make Clemens a decade-long fixture with the Twins, but it could help extend his major league career like Refsnyder did after his time in Minnesota. Four years after signing a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox, Refsnyder has appeared in 258 games, posting a line of .280/.368/.441 with 22 home runs and 100 RBI.
While Refsnyder is not a superstar on that team, he’s found his niche. If all goes well, Clemens will do the same, and the Twins will be happy to ride that momentum until they get some of their key players back.