Clement’s unorthodox swing keeps Blue Jays' power binge going

TORONTO — For most hitters, it would have been an easy take. 

The pitch from Los Angeles Angels right-hander Mike Baumann was 97 m.p.h. and high — not just a little high, but eye level, more than four and a half feet above the ground. Yet Ernie Clement, the free-swinging 28-year-old who fought all spring to earn a roster spot on the Toronto Blue Jays, liked the looks of it. For some reason, he swung.

Against all odds, Clement found the ball with his barrel and crushed it, sending it over the left field wall at Rogers Centre for what would be the definitive hit in the Blue Jays’ 5-3 win over the Angels. The swing was as unorthodox as it was impressive — and you could say the same about this 2024 season for Clement, who has now homered in three consecutive games.

“Yeah, I mean, I probably shouldn't be swinging at that,” Clement said. "I just kind of reacted to it. It's happening so fast that I didn't really have time to think about how high it was. I just knew I hit it."

Immediately, the Blue Jays dugout erupted, led by assistant hitting coach Matt Hague and right fielder George Springer. Alongside them, manager John Schneider was stunned.

“I’ve never seen that before,” he said. “I basically said ‘holy (crap).’”

“The whole dugout shared my sentiment,” Schneider said. “That’s usually a pop-up or a swing-and-miss.”

Meanwhile, Spencer Horwitz, Alejandro Kirk, Will Wagner and Joey Loperfido also contributed big hits of their own while Ryan Yarbrough provided valuable bulk work in a bullpen game for the Blue Jays, who improve to 60-68 with the win.

All week, Clement’s been producing at the plate. Facing Alexis Diaz Monday, he was ready when the Reds’ closer hung an 0-1 slider over the heart of the plate.

After a day off Tuesday, Clement was once again in swing mode when Nick Martinez threw a first-pitch cutter down the middle.

In both cases, Clement did exactly what he should do, but lots of good hitters hit hanging breaking balls for home runs. Virtually none of them do this.

"I can't do that very often," Clement said. "I've struck out on that pitch a couple of times this year."

“It’s elite bat-to-ball,” Schneider said. “That was pretty ridiculous.”

Of course, these three swings don’t mean Clement has suddenly become a slugging third baseman. Entering play Thursday, he ranked in the bottom five percentile in exit velocity, bat speed and hard-hit rate. No one’s about to confuse him with Jose Ramirez.

But even if Clement goes back to being a no-true-outcomes hitter — that is to say, someone who rarely walks, strikes out or homers — he can still bring real value to the Blue Jays. This season offers perfect proof of concept on that front.

While Clement almost never walks, he’s also incredibly hard to strike out, ranking second in strikeout rate among the 316 MLB hitters with at least 200 plate appearances this year, trailing only Luis Arraez, the game’s preeminent contact specialist. That means the speedy Clement’s putting the ball in play constantly and forcing opposing teams to make plays. 

So far, it's working with a .272 batting average and .732 OPS on the season. Combined with excellent defence — he ranks ninth in MLB in defensive runs saved this year — and you have meaningful contributions. Baseball-Reference calculates his WAR at 3.0 for the season while FanGraphs had him at 1.7 entering play Thursday.

“He’s done a great job of transitioning into playing every day,” Schneider said. “Offensively, he’s been really, really good. Defensively he's been outstanding. Third, short, second – and (even) on the mound. But it doesn't really surprise me because he's had a battle for everything in his entire career.”

"I just have a good awareness of where the barrel is right now," Clement explained. "It's nice to feel good at the plate."

Now, none of that means Clement’s a lock to do this again. Valuable though his production has been, it shouldn’t stop the Blue Jays from pursuing more established options at third this winter. 

But Clement deserves credit for playing so well since the Athletics released him in March of 2023 and earning more big-league playing time than he’s ever had before. At the same time, the Blue Jays have reason to be optimistic that they’ve found a big-league contributor even if his precise role for 2025 and beyond has yet to be determined.

"It's been awesome," Clement said. "Two years ago, if you told me this was going to be happening, I would have told you that you were a liar."