This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson’s Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
PHOENIX -- In the bad times, ballclubs need stability as much as they need star power. Great teams that have drifted away from their identity need reminders of the way back.
The Blue Jays have these connections, even amid a brutal start to the season that’s been defined by a stunning number of injuries. There are players on this roster who they can still point to as examples of their 2025 playing style, even if it’s not enough.
Andrés Giménez has been one, seemingly emboldened by his new life as a full-time shortstop. The bench guys, namely Myles Straw, have had some moments, but Ernie Clement seems to exist quietly in the middle of it all. Even with the newfound fame brought on by the World Series run and his MLB-record 30 hits in a single postseason, he’s rarely been the topic of conversation early this season.
His numbers are OK. He’s batting .296 with a .688 OPS, but he’s also become a moving piece in John Schneider’s lineups, seeing some time as the leadoff hitter with George Springer on the IL and batting second in Saturday’s game against the D-backs.
“You can throw Ernie anywhere, really,” Schneider said. “It’s such a unique skill set. He’s going to put the ball in play. He can move runners. He can drive the ball. You kind of forget about Ernie because he just goes about his thing. He’s turned himself into another glue guy in here, too. I’ll try to hit him third and fourth here, sooner or later.”
Schneider is smiling while he says that … but you never know.
Clement is a fan favorite now, beloved across Canada as one of the heroes of that postseason run, but it hasn’t changed anything about him. He’s still the same guy the Blue Jays signed to a Minor League deal back on March 14, 2023, when he wasn’t expected to be much. That’s made Clement a crucial piece of the Blue Jays’ clubhouse, a favorite among coaches as well as players.
“Luis Arraez and him are probably the lowest-maintenance hitters I’ve ever had,” said hitting coach David Popkins. “They’re so self-aware and they understand what they need. He’s very confident in who he is as a player. He doesn’t really want to veer too far off from being aggressive and being a guy who can adjust to hit everything. Sometimes, we’ve got to rein it in a bit, but with him, it’s so nice knowing what you’re going to get every day. He’s going to work his [butt] off.”
Now comes the hard part. At this time last year, the rest of baseball didn’t spend much time thinking about Clement. Now, they do, which brings better game planning for his specific type of approach as a contact machine.
“It’s a lot of early spin and early breaking balls, and he’s aware of that,” Schneider said. “He’s got to just hunt that in the right spot. When you look at the spray chart of where he’s pitched, it’s around the plate, not in the heart. There will be mistakes, but he’s aware of that, too. Sometimes, the blessing is the curse. The contact blessing is the curse. We’re just narrowing his focus in a bit, and he’s done a good job with that.”
This idea has come up often with Schneider over Clement’s years. He can hit everything, a gift of his incredible hand-eye coordination, but he needs to be hitting the right pitches, not just every pitch.
Oddly enough, he’s pitched similarly to how power hitters are. All of those breaking balls early in counts with pitchers living on the edges? That feels more like a pitcher trying to stay away from a power threat like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., where there’s a danger zone over the heart of the plate.
“Ernie’s spot is just a little larger,” Schneider said. “Mistakes are going to happen, and that’s hitting. It’s about hitting mistakes. Similar to that, if pitchers are going to spin him a lot, usually some of those end up in the middle of the plate.”
The bigger blows will come for Clement. With 12 and nine home runs in his past two seasons, that represents his power ceiling fairly well. If he can get there and flirt with a .700 OPS while playing strong defense at second base, that’s a valuable ballplayer, and one who can help connect the Blue Jays back to the identity they’ve been searching for.