And the winner is… Kody Clemens. The 28-year-old infielder was proclaimed the winner by David Dombrowski, the Phillies president of baseball operations to take the final spot on the Phillies 26-man roster. One man’s win is another man’s loss and that second man is Buddy Kennedy, who like Clemens, is out of options and would have to clear waivers to be sent to AAA Lehigh Valley.

Initially, it appeared that Kennedy had the inside track based solely on the fact that he is a right-handed hitter and the Phillies have a heavily left-handed lineup and there may be less need for a lefty bat like Clemens to come off the bench. One thing that weighed in Clemens’ favor was the fact that he has spent more time in Philly over the past two seasons and has come through in some key spots and has shown some power. In 90 games with the Phillies, Clemens has 9 home runs and 31 RBI, but has a low .225 batting average. Clemens came up with big late season, late inning hits last season including a game-tying home run in the ninth inning against Washington that the Phillies went on to win in extra innings. Clemens also beat the Rays with a walk-off single last September. It certainly didn’t hurt that in his time with the Phillies, Clemens has played defensively at seven different positions with catcher and center field being the only two he has missed.

Last September, Clemens attempted to do an impression of his famous dad, Roger Clemens, when he pitched an inning in a blowout game against the Mets. He got the first two hitters before Pete Alonso took him deep.

Whoever won the final roster spot knew that it could be for a limited time. Weston Wilson was penciled in for that spot but strained his oblique early in spring training and is likely out until at least late April. When he returns Wilson, who is a right-handed hitter, could join the Phillies or the team could use his final option and keep him at AAA Lehigh Valley.