TORONTO -- With each spring’s arrival, we meet a new stage in the rise of Ernie Clement, who has dragged himself out of baseball obscurity.
A story like Clement’s, rare as they are, is why MLB front offices just keep swinging, keep hoping, keep scraping up players on Minor League deals ... just in case. Tuesday, Clement was named a member of Team USA for the upcoming World Baseball Classic, another stunning accomplishment for the 29-year-old who’s become one of Canada’s most beloved athletes.
When the Blue Jays picked up Clement late in the spring of 2023, the news was barely worth a headline. He’d been released by the A’s, and while Clement carried the reputation of a sharp defender and good baserunner, he’d hit .204 with a .525 OPS in 109 big league games. It felt like another roster-filler for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, but Clement has grown each year from a fringe contributor to a utilityman, everyday player and postseason star.
Now, the Blue Jays need Clement to do the hardest thing in baseball, which is to keep it going.
If the season started tomorrow, Clement would be the Blue Jays’ starting second baseman, penciled in for 150-plus games given his defensive versatility and all-around value. The last time we saw Clement, he set the all-time MLB record for most hits in a postseason (30). His drive to the warning track with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth of Game 7 of the World Series -- caught by Andy Pages as he collided with Kiké Hernández -- was an inch away from placing Clement right next to Joe Carter for the rest of time.
Each spring, more has been asked and expected of Clement. Each year, he’s answered, and that call will come again when the Blue Jays land in Dunedin, Fla., just four weeks from now.
The foundation: Defense and versatility
There’s a reason Clement was still getting opportunities, even as his bat lagged behind. His defense has the potential to be Gold Glove caliber, and if he’s able to focus more on second base as a primary position, that should only help.
In 2025, Clement’s Fielding Run Value of +10 tied him for ninth among all infielders in the Major Leagues. Having Clement at second with Andrés Giménez at short would give the Blue Jays one of the best defensive middle infields in baseball, and while things can still change -- including the potential that Bo Bichette still finds a way back to Toronto -- the Blue Jays feel completely confident in that double-play duo.
Beyond that, it’s more of a puzzle. Clement would also be Giménez’s primary backup at shortstop, barring another veteran addition, and could still see time at third base, particularly when a lefty is on the mound. As one of this club’s best defenders, though, and its fastest-running regular behind only Myles Straw, there’s a great baseline to work with here.
The upside game: Clement’s bat
If there’s another step for Clement to take, it’s offensively, and his 2025 season only brought more momentum.
Clement hit .277 with a .711 OPS, numbers the Blue Jays would be thrilled to see repeated in 2026. Clement has the natural power to creep into the double digits with home runs, but his game is all about what we saw in the postseason, which is relentless at-bats and contact.
He rarely walks, but this is by design. Clement took just 27 walks in 588 plate appearances last season, the result of being a contact machine who can get to just about every pitch. His whiff rate of 14.5% puts him in the 94th percentile of all MLB hitters, and there are only a handful of players who strike out less than Clement. He, just as much as George Springer’s resurgence in ‘25, was key to the formation of the Blue Jays’ hitting identity, another success story from hitting coach David Popkins.
It feels like Clement’s splits will determine his ceiling this season. In 2025, Clement mashed lefties, good for a .326 average and .900 OPS. This allowed the Blue Jays to stack lineups against left-handed pitching, and later helped them keep Addison Barger away from some of those pitchers, against whom he struggled.
Those splits were reversed in 2024, though, so Clement will need to carry over last season’s improvements against lefties, especially as an everyday player who pitchers will now be spending more time on. That’s the respect Clement has earned around the game now, and if these past three seasons are any lesson, we should just keep expecting more.