verybody saw my mechanics on the mound and they were so intrigued because they looked like my dad's."MORE: The greatest pitching performance you've never heard ofWith the Texas Longhorns, he was the team's esteemed Saturday starter and Clemens lived up to his father's namesake as
MLB The Show 19 Stubs one of Texas' most impressive pitchers. During his college sophomore season, he was exclusively a pitcher, but close to the end of the season, he tore his right labrum and required surgery. That was the beginning of the end of his career as a pitcher.One door closed for Clemens as a pitcher, another opportunity opened up for him to become a position MLB The Show 19 player at the beginning of 2014. He wouldn't be a force on the mound anymore; instead, he rebuilt himself as a defensive-minded first baseman."I couldn't hit or throw the first fall of my freshman year, so all I did was take 150 ground balls a day because that's all I could do.
I got really good defensively at first base and that's how I earned my spot into the lineup as a freshman."Two aspects of the game where Clemens feels he has the most control: his ability to get on base and his ability to defend his position. Out of all the facets of his game, Clemens says he takes the most pride in his defense. It's a skill he's honed and crafted since transitioning to an everyday position MLB The Show 19 player. Clemens is especially sharp with his glove, as evidenced by his stellar.997 minor league fielding percentage and the three lone errors he's committed across three levels of pro ball since 2017.First base is a position which appears easy to play, but Clemens says it's anything but.
It hearkens back to the famous scene from the film "Moneyball" in which Billy Beane tries to convince Scott Hatteberg to play first base. "It's not that hard, Scott. Tell ‘em, Wash". Ron Washington's character rebukes to Beane, "It's incredibly hard."Clemens would surely side with Washington's character in this case. He wants to dispel the myth that first base is one of the easiest positions on the diamond and that's simply because it looks easy."I hate it when people say ‘he's not very athletic, but I think his bat's good enough.
Let's just throw him at first base," Clemens said. "When you have a good first baseman, you can make bad infields look good. And when you have a bad first baseman, you can make good infields look really bad. …"I take a lot of pride in helping my teammates out, picking them up when they have bad throws, covering as much ground as I can for the pitcher."While playing defense came naturally to Clemens, he worked tirelessly at his approach at the plate. Having a game plan when stepping into
the show 19 stubs the batter's box; doing their homework on opposing pitchers and taking the temperature of the in-game situation. For the most part, if a hitter checks all those boxes, they set themselves up for a productive plate appearance.
