Blue Jays fans can thank Spencer Horwitz for Ernie Clement's May turnaround

The Blue Jays' lack of power hurt them at the beginning of the season, but they've been able to turn things around recently thanks to an uptick in power from some key members of the lineup like Bo Bichette and Daulton Varsho.

But that doesn't mean they're the only ones who have looked like different hitters at the plate. After having a rough first month of the season, third baseman Ernie Clement has quietly been one of the best hitters on the team this month.

And it could be due in large part to... Spencer Horwitz?

That's right. Even though the Blue Jays traded Horwitz to the Guardians in the offseason (who immediately flipped him to the Pirates), Clement's turnaround can be traced back to Horwitz. Or, to be more specific, Horwitz's bat.

According to a new story from MLB.com's Keegan Matheson, Clement was searching for answers after his tough start when he found one of Horwitz's old bats in the bowels of Rogers Centre.

And then something clicked.

“All it took was me finding Horwitz's bat sitting in the back, and I’ve been using that,” Clement told Matheson. “I’ve got to be honest, that’s the one I've been using the last week or so."

Ernie Clement's hot surge in May is just what the Blue Jays needed

After a cold start where he batted hit .239 across the first month of the season, he's turned things around in May, which is when he started using Horwitz's bat.

Clement's hitting .311 (14-for-45) through 13 games this month with four doubles and a home run, and is beginning to look like the player who spent the second half of last year looking like a building block for the future.

Clement is best known for his outstanding defense and bat-to-ball skills, and neither of those things went anywhere this season despite his slow start. He doesn't swing and miss much (18.1% whiff rate), but he's finally putting the ball in play in a way that's allowed for him to have some success.

The Blue Jays are 4-2 in their last six games, which has coincided with Clement going supernova at the plate. He's hitting .368 over that span with a home run, three RBI and a stolen base.

Clement always had the same contact-based approach at the plate, and the past two weeks are a prime example of how that can work for him. While he ranks in the second perentile in hard-hit rate, he's in the 97th percentile in hard-hit rate and the 88th percentile in whiff rate.

He may not be hitting the ball hard, but the ball is leaving the bat off his barrel, so he's still making quality contact.

HIs line drive rate this year is 35.6%, which is more than 10% higher than his total from last year. When he's at his best, he's lining the ball all over the field and plugging the gaps, and the rise in that rate shows that he's beginning to do that more this year.

“I’m getting back to being aggressive and being myself,” Clement told Matheson. “Also, failure is just part of our game, so those ups and downs happen, and I’ve been riding the wave. I’m trying to stay more aggressive, definitely."

He's also been important in the field, as he's been filling in at second base as of late in place of the injured Andrés Giménez.

Clement's been a huge boost to the Blue Jays lineup as of late, and it's not a coincidence that his hot streak has come at the same time as a winning streak. If Clement can keep this up, then the sky's the limit for the Blue Jays' lineup.

And, in some ways, it'll all be thanks to a player who's no longer on the Blue Jays.