Texas Professional Athletes

Kody Clemens Steps Up When It Matters

With the calendar turning to the final weeks of the regular season, Texas alumni across MLB are fighting for roster relevance — but it's Longhorn first baseman Kody Clemens who's making the most noise in a pennant race.

Clemens delivered an RBI single in Minnesota's 4-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians on September 13, providing one of the key hits in a tightly contested late-season clash. He wasn't alone in the box score — Royce Lewis also knocked in a run, and Emmanuel Rodriguez added a memorable touch by homering in his first-ever MLB at-bat — but Clemens's contribution stood out as the kind of situational hitting that contending teams need down the stretch.

The week only reinforced that the Twins are leaning on Clemens as part of their late-September push. He picked up hits in back-to-back games against the Yankees on September 15 and 16, drawing a walk on September 16, then scored a run in the September 14 loss to New York to cap a stretch where he appeared in every game of the week. Through September 19, Clemens was slashing .240 on the season, with his hit total and on-base contributions quietly accumulating during one of the most important stretches of the Twins' year.

Other Longhorns in Action

Clemens wasn't the only Texas alum logging innings this week.

On the mound in Philadelphia, right-hander Chase Shugart continued his role as a bullpen piece for the Phillies, making appearances on September 15 against Washington (1.0 innings, one strikeout) and September 19 against the Mets (0.2 innings). Shugart carries a 4.11 ERA and has remained a functional late-game option for a Philadelphia club still in the thick of its own postseason positioning.

In Detroit, Ty Madden made his mark on September 17 against the White Sox, throwing 2.0 innings with a strikeout and holding his ERA at 3.29. Madden has quietly been one of the more reliable arms on a Tigers squad rebuilding for the future — the kind of developmental role that could pay dividends for years to come.

Out in Seattle, Hoby Milner turned in a clean 1.0-inning outing in the Mariners' 19-1 blowout of Oakland on September 13. With an ERA of 3.92, the veteran lefty continues to carve out a specialist role in a crowded Mariners bullpen.

The Longhorn Thread

What ties this group together is the moment: every Texas alum active this week is competing in meaningful late-season games, whether for playoff pushes or organizational futures. Clemens, however, is the one playing in the highest-stakes environment — and he's showing he belongs in it. For Longhorn fans tracking the professional pipeline out of Austin, this week was a solid reminder that the Texas baseball program continues to produce contributors at the highest level.

Two Texas Longhorns alumni found themselves in the spotlight this week — one sidelined at the worst possible moment, the other delivering clutch damage to his former club.

Bryce Elder's Postseason Window Narrows

The Atlanta Braves placed right-hander Bryce Elder on the injured list after he underwent surgery to remove bone fragments from his right knee — a procedure that will sideline him for three to four weeks, per manager Walt Weiss. With the Braves still in postseason contention, the timing is brutal. Elder had been managed carefully in recent weeks, and the club had floated the possibility of using him out of the bullpen before the decision was made to operate.

A three-to-four week recovery window puts Elder's return squarely at the edge of the playoff picture. If Atlanta advances and the calendar cooperates, there's a narrow path back — but it's far from guaranteed. To fill the rotation gap, the Braves selected southpaw Bailey Falter from Triple-A Gwinnett and activated Reynaldo López, while also designating Elieser Hernández for assignment for the third time in seven weeks.

Elder has been one of Atlanta's most dependable starters this season. Losing him down the stretch — and potentially in October — is the kind of blow that can quietly unravel a contender's depth.

Kody Clemens Making Detroit Pay

Meanwhile, Kody Clemens is doing his best to make the Tigers feel the trade. The Twins first baseman went back-to-back big in the Minnesota-Detroit series this week, homering in both the Tuesday and Wednesday matchups. His two-run blast in the top of the sixth on Wednesday — his 25th homer of the season — proved to be the go-ahead hit in a 3-2 Minnesota win that further buried Detroit's already fading postseason hopes. The Tigers fell to 66-79 with the loss.

Clemens also stayed hot into the weekend, collecting a hit against Cleveland on Saturday. He's hitting .243 on the season, and his surge couldn't be coming at a better time for a Twins club fighting to stay relevant in the AL Wild Card race.

There's an uncomfortable irony in Detroit watching Clemens thrive — the Tigers had every opportunity to see what the former Longhorn could do. Minnesota hasn't looked back.

Around the Horn

Phillies reliever Chase Shugart logged appearances in three straight series games this week — against Houston on Tuesday and twice against Atlanta on Friday and Saturday — working 1.0 to 1.1 innings each time. He's settled into a reliable middle-relief role for a Philadelphia club with its own October ambitions.

Hoby Milner was reinstated by the Mariners from the family medical emergency list, tossing a clean inning with two strikeouts against the Rangers on Wednesday. His return prompted Seattle to designate outfielder Stuart Fairchild for assignment to clear a roster spot.

The Longhorn pipeline in pro baseball is deep — and this week, it delivered both heartbreak and highlight-reel moments in equal measure.

Kody Clemens Is Doing Real Damage for Minnesota

For a stretch of the calendar that gets lost in the dog days of a long season, Kody Clemens made sure his week was impossible to ignore. The Texas alum and Twins first baseman went deep in back-to-back games on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 against Detroit, knocking in three runs across those two contests while scoring four times and drawing two walks. He followed that with another two-run effort on Sept. 2, then went 3-for-whatever on Sept. 4 before adding an RBI on Sept. 5 — posting meaningful contributions in four of his last five games of the period.

The back-to-back home runs came during a blowout of the Tigers, an 11-1 Twins rout in which Clemens connected alongside Ryan Jeffers (two homers) and top prospect Walker Jenkins. It was the kind of lineup display that underscores how Clemens has quietly stabilized as a contributor in Minnesota, sitting at a .239 average by week's end — a modest number that undersells the production he's been generating in the middle of the game log.

For Longhorn fans who remember Clemens as a draft-day project following his time at UT, the current run is the most sustained evidence yet that he belongs.

Milner Finds a Soft Landing in Seattle

The week brought a bumpier road for Hoby Milner. The Cubs DFA'd the lefty reliever on Aug. 29 and released him outright on Aug. 30 — a quick cut that ended his time in Chicago. But the veteran didn't wait long for another call. By Tuesday, Sept. 2, Milner had signed with the Seattle Mariners, adding depth to a bullpen navigating the final stretch of the season.

His first appearances in a Seattle uniform showed the transition was still a work in progress. Milner allowed two earned runs in just a third of an inning against Boston on Sept. 1, then went a clean inning against Oakland on Sept. 4 — striking out one and allowing one earned run — to close the week with a 4.14 ERA as a Mariner. The results were mixed, but the opportunity itself matters: Milner is throwing in a major-league bullpen, not sitting at home.

Elder Stays in the Rotation Picture in Atlanta

Braves righty Bryce Elder also factored into the week's narrative, though on the periphery. The former Longhorn continued to hold down a rotation spot for an Atlanta team riding momentum — two series sweeps and a six-game win streak entering his start against San Francisco. Elder carried a 3.95 ERA and 1.24 WHIP into the week, working to bounce back after a rough outing against the Dodgers in which he surrendered eight hits and three earned runs.

The broader picture for Texas alums in MLB this week is one of quiet accumulation — a hot stretch here, a roster move there. Clemens is the loudest story, but there's plenty of burnt orange scattered across big-league diamonds as September baseball heats up.

Kody Clemens had himself a week. The Twins first baseman went 7-for-his-last-several with a home run, three RBI, and multiple multi-hit games, serving as the headliner in a quietly productive stretch for Texas alumni across MLB.

Clemens Carries the Bat

Clemens was the story from start to finish. He opened the week Sunday, Aug. 23 with a two-hit, one-RBI performance in a 5-7 loss to the Padres, then kept rolling Tuesday against the Athletics — going 2-for-his-game with two RBI in a convincing 9-2 Twins win. He added a hit and a walk Thursday before saving his best for last: on Saturday against the White Sox, Clemens went 2-for-2 with a homer, an RBI, a run scored, and a walk in a 4-7 contest, pushing his average to .240. For a player who entered the week sitting at .238, it was the kind of sustained output that earns roster security heading into September.

Arms on the Mound

Two Texas pitchers took the ball this week with mixed results.

Chase Shugart worked two innings for the Phillies on Tuesday against the Mariners, striking out four — an impressive rate — while allowing one earned run in a 2-9 loss. The outing nudged his ERA to 4.70, but the punchout total signals the stuff is still there for the former Longhorn reliever.

Ty Madden had a rougher go in Detroit. The Tigers right-hander entered against the Royals on Sunday, Aug. 23 and threw 1.2 innings, racking up three strikeouts but surrendering three earned runs. His ERA sits at 3.46, a number that speaks better to his season as a whole than this particular outing.

Around the Horn

Elsewhere in the league, David Hamilton's week with the Brewers featured a notable high and a costly low. The light-hitting Milwaukee infielder came through with a go-ahead two-out, two-run single against the Mets — only to see the Brewers fall in a bizarre 3-2 loss in the 10th inning, with Hamilton's error playing a role in the final out. It was the kind of week that captures a journeyman's existence in the big leagues: heroics and heartbreak, sometimes in the same box score.

Bryce Elder continued to give the Braves reasons to believe. The former Longhorn righty went six strong innings against the Dodgers — a World Series contender — helping Atlanta to a 4-3 win behind Ozzie Albies' two-run performance. Elder's durability against elite competition has been a consistent theme, and this start added another data point to that case.

The Bottom Line

Texas baseball's pipeline remains alive and well in MLB. Clemens is the week's standout — his multi-game consistency at the plate for Minnesota is the kind of production that matters in a playoff race. Elder's performance against Los Angeles is the marquee pitching line. And while Shugart and Madden had uneven nights, the strikeout totals from both suggest the arsenal hasn't gone anywhere. For a program with alumni spread across nearly every roster in the league, this was one of the better collective weeks of the summer.