The Phillies have made a decision on their final bench spot. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski informed reporters, including Matt Gelb of The Athletic, that Kody Clemens made the team. This means that Buddy Kennedy, who is out of options, will not. Dombrowski says that there’s a bit of trade interest for Kennedy and they will try to work out a swap, but he’ll be designated for assignment on Thursday if they can’t work something out.
Like essentially all clubs, the Phils are expected to carry 13 pitchers on their roster, the maximum allowed. That means there are 13 spots for position players, leaving a four-man bench behind the nine regulars. One of those spots will go to backup catcher Rafael Marchán. With the Phils expected to platoon Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas in center, one of them will take another spot. Edmundo Sosa had another locked down by his ability to provide strong defense around the infield, while also kicking in some roughly average offense. Marchán and Sosa are both out of options.
That left Clemens and Kennedy battling for the final spot. Since both of them are out of options as well, whoever didn’t get picked would end up off the roster entirely. Neither player has hit much in the big leagues thus far. Clemens has a .200/.246/.373 batting line and Kennedy has hit .203/.295/.313. Those leads to respective wRC+ numbers of 68 and 72. Both have hit better in the minors but neither is a guarantee to produce in the bigs.
Defensively, the two have fairly similar skill sets. Both have played all around the infield but neither is really considered a viable shortstop. Both have significant second base innings in the minors, with Kennedy playing a bit more third and Clemens a bit more at first.
That put them on roughly even footing coming into camp, but Clemens has had the better showing in recent weeks. Spring stats are always to be taken with a grain of salt but Clemens has a line of .308/.357/.500, compared to Kennedy’s .162/.347/.432 showing. Kennedy also hits right-handed, the same as Sosa, while Clemens gives the club another left-handed bat.
Though Kennedy is getting squeezed off the Philly roster, he could find interest elsewhere. Dombrowski says they’ve been getting some calls, which lines up with Kennedy’s popularity on the waiver wire. In late 2023 and early 2024, he went from the Diamondbacks to the Athletics, Cardinals and Tigers via waiver claims. He got nudged off Detroit’s roster in June and flipped to the Phillies for cash.
As mentioned, he can bounce around to various different positions. While his bat still hasn’t clicked in the majors, he put up a line of .290/.404/.456 in the minors over the past two years, with that production translating to a 121 wRC+. He has less than a year of service time. Though he’s out of options, any club willing to give him a roster spot would therefore gain six potential years of control.
Photo courtesy of Chris Tilley, Imagn Images
No clue why anyone wants him TBH.
26 year old with 121 wRC+ the last 2 years in the minors and 6 years of team control…I can think of worse wilds cards on some 26 man rosters.
Makes a mean jambalaya.
Crap …. now where can I find a good jambalaya in Philly?
Have gubhub on speeddial these days.
Beck’s Cajun Cafe at the Reading Terminal Market.
His high minor league OBP (.404 over the past two years) suggests he could be an undervalued asset in an era where walk rate is increasingly linked to sustainable offensive production. The real inefficiency here is how teams view ‘out of options’ players. Instead of looking at them as expendable, smart front offices should see them as controlled assets with upside—Kennedy’s 121 wRC+ in the minors suggests a team with weak infield depth could get six years of a cost-controlled, high-OBP utility piece for essentially nothing. The Phillies might regret cutting him loose if he ends up as a late-blooming on-base machine elsewhere.
@OldY – The whole point of minor league options limitations is to allow for player movement to other opportunities elsewhere that would give fringe or late-developing players a clearer path to the majors on a team that can give them major league playing time.
Teams don’t “undervalue” out of options guys -it is just complicated to figure out who can fit with the limited spots available as they try to balance out present needs to win vs. being able to develop for the future.
@CarverAndrews
For some reason, there is no ‘reply’ button. I agree and think that some team with a shaky infield is going to snag him, given his game is OBP and that’s gold in today’s game.
He’s no Don Money.
Out of nowhere – the precusor to the best 3b in history gets a mention.
Thanx for the memory
Not completely out of nowhere, LOL….Buddy Kennedy is Don Money’s grandson. BTW, my first give away day at the Vet was Don Money bat day. Still have it.
I have one of those
But No Money brought or allowed room for some dude named Michael Jack Schmidt
Kennedy and Clemens add little. Neither is an adequate regular fill in if/when injuries happen.
For roster balance, I think the Phillies wanted Weston Wilson for this final roster spot, but he’s still recovering from a minor spring injury. Clemens will be that placeholder until Wilson is ready. …. Then they’ll probably trade Clemens, too. Tne “new” Clemens will be Christian Arroyo, who’s now at AAA.
Both players played in Detroit and I was very disappointed when Buddy was put on waivers. He played a pretty good 3b and has some pop in his bat. Love to see the Tigers get him back.
Buddy Kennedy is a friend to no man, today.
Kody is Roger’s son
Wow…
This is more a plague that results from players on decade long contracts and veteran heavy rosters. If you don’t make it it’s off to a sub par team for a one shot prove it, replace an injured player and hope to have a breakout, or re-sign a minor league contract down the road.
Phillies are way too heavy with lefties. They made the same mistake last season and tried to right the ship with Austin Hayes. Didn’t work yet they are making the same mistake again. Don’t get it.
The Phillies have hit lefties better than righties for years. Harper and Schwarber absolutely killed lefties last year.
Buddy’s a good name for a dog
Glad Clemens made the team! Marsh
is the everyday CF this season.
Rumor has it that Roger walked into DD’s office with the stub of a bat handle and had a brief chat…
…on a more serious note, great kid. I hope that he can truly carve out a role for himself. Although the guy that might be in line for that spot by next season (or earlier) is Otto Kemp. We need to pay attention to what he does this year as if he continues to hit he will find a role.