Few Blue Jays have better taken advantage of their playing time than Ernie Clement

In early June, just a couple of months into the season, Ernie Clement was in the midst of a brutal cold streak that had dropped his OPS on the season to .589. His trajectory was looking startlingly similar to that of Santiago Espinal, an infielder who showed promise early on, before falling off a cliff and getting shipped out of town. Fortunately, Clement was able to turn things around, and as more and more playing time has opened up in Toronto, he's taken full advantage of the opportunity.

While the teardown of the Blue Jays roster certainly hasn't been ideal, it has provided younger players more playing time. In the case of Ernie Clement, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa injured and then dealt to Pittsburgh, he became the team's de facto starting third baseman. When Kiner-Falefa went on the shelf at the end of June, Clement's OPS was just .680, but in his 44 games since he's raised that all the way to .729. With a 105 OPS+ on the season, he's proven himself as a legitimate Major League-level hitter, which is all he needs to do since his real value comes from his glove.

In just 29 games in 2023 with the club, Clement accumulated 0.5 dWAR, and by most metrics, graded out as an above-average fielder. In 2024, he's taken this part of his game to a completely different level. Per baseball reference, his 1.6 dWAR this season ranks 10th in the Majors and leads all third basemen. His advanced metrics think quite as highly of him, as he sits in the 86th percentile for outs above average, but the point remains that he has been an excellent fielder this year.

What's been most encouraging about Clement's production this year is that he's doing over a large sample size. Defensively he's proven that he can play at a high caliber over the course of a season, and offensively he's given us a better idea of what type of hitter he is and his statcast metrics do a great job illustrating that. Clement's average exit velocity, barrel rate, hard-hit rate, bat speed, chase rate, and walk percentage all sit right near the bottom of Major League baseball. What's saving him is that his contact skills are through the roof, whiffing and striking out less than almost anyone in baseball. This paints the picture of a relatively low-ceiling hitter thanks to very little raw power, but also a hitter whose natural contact skills allow him to produce at a major league level. This has unfortunately turned him into a player who almost never walks, having drawn just nine all year, the same amount as Daniel Vogelbach who was released over two months ago. However, it's this swing-first approach that led to him hitting a come run against the Angels off a pitch he had no business ever swinging at.

As the Blue Jays season spiralled out of control, more and more playing time became available, and no one has taken advantage of that quite like Ernie Clement. After starting this season on the roster bubble, he's made himself an integral part of the team and has been one of the team's most important assets. He may never be the type of player who'll set the world on fire, but Clement has proven he's here to stay.