Ernie Clement’s path from constant option shuffles to becoming the American League starter at second base is rooted in one stubborn belief: he would do whatever it took. The Blue Jays’ grinder has turned late opportunities, defensive versatility, and relentles
By the time Ernie Clement sat in the Blue Jays dugout on Thursday—wearing a black hoodie and blue toque—his story already sounded like a punchline to anyone who only sees box scores. He’d been the last guy on the bench for stretches, the one constantly hovering between triple-A and the majors. He’d been optioned. He’d been DFA’d. And at one point, he’d even been released.
Yet now Clement is an American League All-Star starter at second base. winning the first-round vote total for the position with more than three million ballots—only about 100. 000 votes behind Shohei Ohtani’s total. He finished ahead of names like Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, Freddie Freeman, and Juan Soto.
“To be in the same conversation with some of these guys is pretty funny to me, honestly,” Clement said Thursday. “I got DFA’ed twice. I’ve been released. I’ve been optioned more times than I can count. But I just stuck around long enough to earn more and more opportunity.”
The version of baseball Clement describes isn’t glamorous. It’s laying down bunts and running hit-and-runs. It’s stealing bags and moving runners. It’s pinch-hitting, pinch-running, and pitching in a blowout. It’s knowing how to handle the little things—like putting on leg guards—if the day suddenly changes.
He never framed that role as lesser. He framed it as the point.
“He was trying to make his way. sustain a role on a team. ” Terry Francona’s staff member Hale remembered from Cleveland in 2021. when Clement was in his fifth season with the organization that drafted him and was shuffling up and down between triple-A and the majors. “He knew he had to do whatever it takes. And when we called his number, whatever it was for, he was ready to play.”.
For a player who can play second base. shortstop. left field. and third base. Clement’s career long ago stopped being about one position. It became about being ready for whatever came next—an adjustment that is easy to underestimate if you’ve only known stability. Hale explained what makes that hard at the major-league level.
“It’s not easy being a utility player at the big-league level,” Hale said. “Those types of players, they play every day in the minor leagues. All of a sudden. you get an opportunity in the big leagues. you’re in a different role. maybe you might be playing two or three times a week. That’s one of the biggest adjustments that a player will go through.”.
That grind—down to the season-to-season uncertainty—shaped the way Clement eventually got his chance with Toronto. The Blue Jays signed him to a minor-league deal in 2023 after he was released by the Oakland Athletics midway through spring training. At the time. MLB Trade Rumors described the move as “a pure depth move. ” pointing out Toronto already had Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal on their bench as established big-leaguers.
Clement arrived with a .204/.261/.264 batting line and 50 OPS+ across 312 MLB plate appearances prior. numbers that suggested he wasn’t expected to become anything more than a piece. Clement’s own version of why he signed with Toronto was more specific: the Blue Jays offered him the guarantee of four-to-five triple-A starts per week to begin the season.
Defensive versatility and relative speed helped him earn sporadic big-league roles elsewhere, but the pattern kept repeating: opportunities, then another roster crunch, then another DFA. Clement said he refused to treat that cycle as a dead end.
“I felt like I was so close when I was in Cleveland to finding success,” Clement said. “I just wanted to play because I trusted myself and I wanted to bet on myself. I thought that I could continue to get better and find success.”
Getting regular time with Buffalo in 2023 was where the equation shifted. Clement’s first 145 triple-A plate appearances produced a .328/.408/.512 line. His work also benefited from consistent drill work with then Bisons hitting coach Matt Hague. aimed at improving his point of contact and maximizing his bat-to-ball ability.
The Blue Jays didn’t wait for an opening to appear out of nowhere. In late May, after Espinal hit the IL with a hamstring issue, Toronto selected Clement’s contract. For the next couple months. he continued riding the option carousel before Bo Bichette’s quad issue in late August opened the door for two weeks of starting shortstop during a postseason push.
Hitting .366 over that span while playing solid defense gave Clement more than a temporary assignment. It bought him a longer stay when Bichette returned. The next spring. out of options and locked in a competitive battle for one of Toronto’s bench spots. Clement backed up the belief with production: he OPS’ed 1.026 with three homers while whiffing only twice on 63 swings.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said at the end of camp when he announced Clement was coming north: “He forced our hand.”
Hale pointed to the same trait everyone kept noticing in different places: persistence disguised as routine.
“He’s the definition of a grinder. He never gave up. He continued to work,” Hale said. “He took advantage of every opportunity that came. He put himself in that position. That says a lot about the person, the character, and, really, the love of the game.”
Since Clement earned an opening-day roster spot in 2024, only Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has appeared in more games for the Blue Jays. Across MLB-wide, just 33 players have appeared in more games. Only 42 have more hits, and 30 have a higher batting average. Clement has also struck out less than most—only three players have struck out less often. Just one player, Lenyn Sosa, has walked at a lower clip.
His profile is rare in today’s game: free-swinging, high-chase, high-contact, putting the ball in play and running. It’s a throwback style that would’ve fit comfortably in the 1980s, yet it’s nearly extinct now. Toronto has made it work anyway. using Clement as a complementary piece either atop or near the bottom of lineups built around power threats.
In 2025, Clement set career highs across the board. Then came October—when he went “mental,” breaking MLB’s record for hits in a single post-season. He batted .411 and OPS’d .977 in that run.
He started 2026 representing Team USA in the World Baseball Classic before flirting with a .300 batting average and carrying the MLB lead in doubles through mid-to-late June.
So the story twists from one key detail to another: a utility player who couldn’t catch on with the Guardians and Athletics—two organizations that rely on overlooked. undervalued talent to fill out low-cost rosters—became a lineup fixture and an All-Star with the Blue Jays. one of MLB’s biggest spenders.
Clement puts the pace of that change in his own terms: slowly and quickly at the same time.
“I’ve failed more than anybody in this game and I’ve used those failures to build and grow. I wouldn’t be who I am today without sucking it up a little bit early on in my career. ” Clement said. “I love the game of baseball more than anything in the world. And I’m really fortunate to still be playing and still be sticking around here. I’m so grateful. That’s really the only word I can have right now. I’m so thankful and grateful for another awesome opportunity.”.
Ernie Clement Toronto Blue Jays All-Star starter American League second base utility player Matt Hague John Schneider Terry Francona Cavan Biggio Santiago Espinal Bo Bichette Vladimir Guerrero Jr. World Baseball Classic