Finding the silver lining in this Blue Jays fan favorite’s bizarre season

While we're only three weeks into the MLB season, it feels like Ernie Clement's had three seperate seasons across that span.

After starting the season in a serious slump, Clement's begun to show some signs of life at the plate.

And while that rough start could have called Clement's status on the Blue Jays' roster into question, it seems like he's on the precipice of turning things around.

Finding the silver lining in Ernie Clement's bizarre season

Clement put together a solid season last year, and quickly emerged as a fan favorite on a team that limped to a last-place finish in the American League East.

While Clement finished last year with an OPS+ under 100, he was a defensive standout at second base (he was worth five Outs Above Average and was a Gold Glove finalist) and hit .263 on a team that limped to a last-place finish in the American League East.

The Blue Jays showed their faith in Clement in the offseason when they agree with Clement on a one-year, $1.975 million contract, and Clement made good on that commitment in the spring by hitting .395 with two home runs in 17 games.

But then the season started.

After going 2-for-9 in five games in March, Clement opened April on a 0-for-10 skid and entered Sunday's game hitting just .097 (3-for-31) on the season.

But then he put together a 4-for-5 day with a double and stolen base on April 13 in what was a classic Clement game.

Clement's double came in the sixth inning when he ambushed a first-pitch fastball from Keegan Akin, which helped set up from bottom of the order magic. Two pitches later, Myles Straw drove Clement in with a single to push the Blue Jays within one run of the Orioles.

In the eighth inning, he helped keep the Blue Jays rally alive by recording a single in the at-bat after Alejandro Kirk hit an RBI double (Clement would later come around to score on a game-tying single from Bo Bichette) and he moved the ghost runner to third with a single in the tenth inning.

His other hit came in the form of a second inning single.

When Clement's at his best, he's able to rack up hits in bunches thanks to his unrivaled contact ability. He finished last year in the 100th percentile in strikeout rate, the 99th percentile in squared-up rate and the 96th percentile in whiff rate.

This year, he's in the 93rd percentile in strikeout rate along with being in the 97th percentile in Outs Above Average (3). He's still a great contact hitter and defender — it's just that everything else hasn't worked out the way it did last year.

Clement's struggles early in the season also a little more magnified thanks to the power outage up and down the Blue Jays' lineup.

The Blue Jays entered Wednesday's game with 11 home runs as a team (the second-lowest total in baseball), and Andrés Giménez was the team's only infielder to hit a home run (he has three).

Guerrero smashed his first home run of the year on Wednesday, which takes a ton of pressure off everyone in the lineup.

Clement will never be the prototpyical power hitting third baseman — last year was his first MLB season with double-digit home runs — so he's best suited on a roster filled with boppers.

And the Blue Jays have that (in theory) with Bichette, Anthony Santander and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. But when Santander is the only member of that trio with a home run, Clement's lack of power feels a little more pronouced.

The good news for Clement is that there aren't a ton of great options behind him. Addison Barger got the first minor league call-up of the year, but he's appeared in the outfield in his first two apperances this year.

Orelvis Martinez was once projected as the power-hitting infielder of the future, but he's off to a rough start in Triple-A, and is the exact opposite kind of player that Clement is. He has some impressive power, but strikes out far too much and is a subpar defender.

While there's no denying that Clement needs to be better than he's been at the start of the season, he's still a valuable player on Toronto's roster, and likely won't be going anywhere any time soon.