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Clemens is following his father into the major leagues.

The children of baseball players don’t always follow in their parents’ footsteps, as those who do often have understandably large shoes to fill. That’s how you know, though, that the ones who do have every intent of going all the way with it, and one of them just got a great chance to get his foot in the door.

Kody Clemens, the 26-year-old son of seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, received an invitation to play in the major leagues from the Detroit Tigers this week. Roger Clemens is one of the MLB’s most decorated players, playing 24 seasons across four teams including the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. While Roger has never played for the Tigers, he was happy that they extended the invitation to his son nonetheless.

“He’s scrambling and trying to figure out when he’s going to fly here,” Kody Clemens said of his father after he received the news. “He loved it. He was like ‘You’re a big leaguer, kid.'”

Kody Clemens has been called up to the big leagues.

He’s the youngest of Roger Clemens’ four sons and the first to reach the majors. pic.twitter.com/1xAOzDfYLE

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) May 30, 2022

In honor of his father, the Tigers have assigned Kody the number 21 jersey, the same number Roger wore during his 12-year stint with the Red Sox. Kody has no intentions of riding his father’s coattails, of course, but he did admit that sharing the number was a point of pride for him.

“Obviously, I’m trying to create my own career path here, but to wear his number is awesome,” Kody Clemens said. “Luckily, we always say that I’m glad I’m a hitter, not a pitcher, so I don’t have to live up to what he did. Half a career as his is unbelievable.”