Kody

Clemens

Clemens put the Twins on the board early on Friday when he sent a curveball from Gerrit Cole 423 feet into left-center to give his team a 1-0 lead. Clemens would later double in the fourth inning and came around to score on an RBI single by Victor Caratini. Clemens has now hit safely in three-straight games and in six of his last seven while smacking four homers over that span.

Clemens smashed a three-run home run off a high fastball from Tatsuya Imai in the second inning that practically ended his night. That was Clemens’ 14th home run on the season after hitting a career-high 19 last year. This has been a sensational multi-year power surge from Clemens who entered 2025 with just 14 career long balls and looks the part of a legitimate middle of the order bat at the moment.

Clemens knocked a base hit and scored a run in the first inning, then singled and scored again in the fifth, crossing home for two of the team’s four runs. The versatile 30-year-old is hitting .241/.305/.467 with 13 homers, 37 runs scored, 35 RBI, and six steals across 287 plate appearances.

It’s Keaschall’s first start in the outfield as a major leaguer. He started 19 games, all of them in center, in the outfield in the minors. The Twins are tired of watching him struggle at second base, so this could be a full-time switch. The one problem there for the long haul is that the Twins have a terrific group of outfield prospects, led by Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Gabriel Gonzalez, on the way, which might eventually crowd Keaschall out.

Clemens’ homer to right off Kumar Rocker in the third was a 367-footer that would have departed 19 of 30 ballparks. A lifetime .206/.263/.403 hitter coming into the season, he’s at .251/.318/.493 right now, and it seems mostly deserved, what with his strikeout rate being down to 22 percent.

With two outs in the seventh inning and the Twins trailing 7-4, Clemens stepped to the plate with two men on and made the most of his moment when he blasted a three-run homer off reliever Ryne Stanek to tie the game at 7-7. It was the 10th homer of the season for Clemens, who has now homered four times in June and is slashing .303/.324/.667 on the month.

Clemens tagged Seth Lugo for a solo shot in the third inning, jumping on a first-pitch curveball for a 414-foot (101.4-mph EV) blast that gave the Twins a 3-2 advantage. He then left the yard again in the fifth inning, that time a 379-foot (101.7-mph EV) solo shot on a sweeper that made it a 5-3 ballgame. The versatile 30-year-old has been a key cog in the Twins’ offense this season, slashing .236/.311/.460 with eight homers and 20 RBI in his 195 plate appearances.

Clemens doubled and scored in the second inning, then tripled in the third to drive in a run. He’d reach for a third straight time in the fourth, driving in another run with a base hit. The versatile 30-year-old is having a solid season with the Twins, hitting .239/.316/.447 with six homers, 20 runs scored, 18 RBI, and five steals across 179 plate appearances. He’s come into more playing time of late, starting each of the last four games against left-handed pitching.

It appears to be just a routine day off for Martin, who is sitting against White Sox RHP Davis Martin while Kody Clemens gets some reps in right field. Martin is hitting just .220/.270/.339 in his last 16 games as a (mostly) full-time starter after the Twins optioned out Matt Wallner.

Kody Clemens will make his first career start in center field with Buxton limited to DH for the sixth time in his last seven games since returning from a hip issue that cost him five games earlier this month. It’s a bit unclear when he’ll be ready to return to center field, but the positive for fantasy managers is that he’s remained in the lineup.