Texas Professional Athletes

The Big Story: Pérez and Elder Cloud Atlanta's NLDS Picture

Two Texas alumni are at the center of the Atlanta Braves' injury drama heading into their National League Division Series matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers — and neither situation is clean.

Manager Walt Weiss addressed the status of left-hander Martín Pérez and right-hander Bryce Elder before the series, with both pitchers facing uncertain availability for the biggest games of Atlanta's season. Pérez, the veteran Longhorn arm who signed with Atlanta looking to contribute in a meaningful postseason role, is now a question mark at the worst possible time. Weiss offered updates but stopped short of clearing either pitcher, leaving the Braves' pitching plans in flux against a Dodgers lineup that punishes hesitation.

Elder's situation had already been in focus before the NLDS. The Braves quietly flagged his status during the wild card series against the Philadelphia Phillies — Atlanta swept that series to advance — but the underlying concern didn't disappear with the win. Now, with the Dodgers on deck, Weiss is managing two Texas products through what amounts to a postseason health tightrope.

For Longhorn fans, it's a rare moment: two former UT arms on the same playoff roster, both potentially pivotal, both navigating the injury report at the same time.

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Around the Diamond

The drama in Atlanta wasn't the only place Texas alumni showed up this week.

Kody Clemens closed out the regular season with a quietly solid afternoon for the Minnesota Twins on Sunday, going 1-for-the-day with an RBI in a 6-4 win over the Rangers. The former Longhorn first baseman finishes the year hitting .239 — a useful contributor off the bench for a Minnesota club that will hope its roster depth matters come October.

Ty Madden took the mound for Detroit against Pittsburgh on Sunday, turning in three innings and punching out three batters while carrying a 3.26 ERA into the final day of the regular season. The Tigers' rotation has leaned on Madden to eat innings in the back half of the year, and he's delivered a respectable debut campaign.

Hoby Milner, working out of the Seattle Mariners' bullpen, logged two innings of relief in a 7-3 win over the Angels, adding a strikeout and holding his ERA at 3.64 to close the year. The veteran Longhorn left-hander has been a reliable late-inning arm for Seattle throughout the season.

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The Bottom Line

The Texas alumni story this week belongs to Atlanta. Pérez and Elder aren't just peripheral names on a Braves roster — they're potential difference-makers in an NLDS where pitching depth against a Dodgers offense will be the decisive variable. Whether either or both are available — and in what capacity — will shape how much of a Texas fingerprint ends up on one of the marquee series of the 2026 postseason. Watch Weiss's pregame availability reports closely.

Kody Clemens Owns the Week — Starting With the Rangers

It was almost poetic. A Longhorn walking into Globe Life Field and beating up on the Rangers.

Kody Clemens put together the signature performance of his week on Saturday, going 3-for-3 with a two-run home run, three RBI, and a run scored as the Minnesota Twins routed Texas 10–2. Joe Ryan got the headline for striking out eight across seven innings, but Clemens was the offensive engine — and the optics of a Texas alum doing that damage against the Rangers in their own house? Not lost on anyone paying attention.

It wasn't a one-game surge. Clemens was active throughout the week, logging a hit in the Twins' Wednesday win over San Francisco and appearing in every game of a busy stretch that included matchups against the Angels and Giants. He's hitting .239 on the season, but the power and run production he flashed against Texas looked like a player finishing strong with something to prove heading into the offseason.

Bryce Elder and the Braves' October Calculus

While Clemens was making noise in Minnesota, Atlanta's Longhorn story is more about what could be coming.

Bryce Elder is working his way back from injury, and his potential return is quietly one of the more significant wild cards in the National League. The Braves clinched the NL East division title this week — including a sweep of the Astros in Houston — and now face a very real question: what role, if any, does Elder play in October?

According to reporting from both Sports Illustrated and Heavy Sports, the Braves haven't given a firm timetable, but Elder's status is being monitored closely as the playoffs approach. The front office has to weigh whether to stretch him out, deploy him in a bullpen role, or hold him back entirely — a decision that could carry real consequences depending on how Atlanta's rotation holds up in the first round.

Elder's regular-season body of work made him a key piece of Atlanta's staff before the injury. Getting him back healthy — even in a limited capacity — would add meaningful depth to a rotation that knows it will face elite lineups in October.

Around the Horn

Elsewhere among Texas alumni, Chase Shugart continued to work out of Philadelphia's bullpen, logging appearances in three of the week's games. He was sharp in spots — striking out three in 1.2 innings Saturday against Tampa Bay — though an earned run in that outing nudged his ERA to 4.02. The Phillies are in the thick of the playoff race, and Shugart's ability to eat innings late in games gives manager Rob Thomson a reliable option as rosters expand.

Hoby Milner also turned in a clean outing for Seattle on Friday, punching out three batters across a scoreless inning against the Angels and maintaining his 3.83 ERA.

Ty Madden had a rougher go Sunday in Detroit's loss to the White Sox, allowing two earned runs in three innings to close his ERA at 3.48 — still a respectable number for a young arm working through the final days of a long season.

With two Longhorns potentially in the postseason picture — Clemens pushing for a Twins playoff berth and Elder waiting in the wings in Atlanta — Texas alumni are worth watching as October approaches.

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.