Ernie Clement has continued to deliver for the Toronto Blue Jays, now in his fourth year as a member of the organization. Clement joined ahead of the 2023 MLB season on a minor-league deal, one of the smartest moves Toronto’s front office has made over the last decade.
Clement provides a ton of value to manager John Schneider. The 30-year-old veteran can play every spot on the infield besides first base, and he has continued to make consistent contact at the plate.
Throughout 31 games this year, Clement has posted a .302 batting average, .323 on-base percentage, .752 OPS, one home run and nine RBIs. Clement enters Friday leading all of MLB with 13 doubles.
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However, Clement may not get the chance to extend that streak. Ahead of Friday’s game against the Minnesota Twins, Clement was removed from Toronto’s lineup.
Instead, Kazuma Okamoto drew the start at the hot corner, with Lenyn Sosa starting at second base. This is the first time all season that Clement has not been in the starting lineup, ending a streak of 31 straight games.
Fortunately for Blue Jays fans, his absence is not injury related. Blue Jays manager John Schneider spoke with reporters during pregame and shared the reason for Clement’s absence.
He said that while Toronto is in a stretch of playing 13 straight games, he wanted to give Clement a rest day. “He’ll probably make his way into the game. But trying to keep some guys involved, trying to give him a little bit of a blow,” Schneider said (h/t Shi Davidi of Sportsnet).
Clement is a weapon even in a bench role, as he will be able to provide excellent defense on the infield and a solid bat as well. Toronto dropped the series opener against Minnesota and is looking to get back on track Friday.
The Blue Jays finished the month of April strong, yet there is still work to do as the team currently owns a 14-17 record.
