Ernie Clement’s power surge should position him as the Blue Jays’ everyday third baseman to start the season

However, this changed in 2023 with the Blue Jays organization. It started in Triple-A, where he slashed .348/.401/.544 with an 8.1 BB% and a 5 K%, the latter being an insanely low percentage. What’s more interesting though, is the fact that he hit 11 home runs in 320 plate appearances, with the 11th home run being hit in his 271st plate appearances of the season.

On September 1, 2023 and on his 307th plate appearance of the season between the big leagues and the minor leagues, Clement hit his 12th home run of the season. It took him five seasons and 1,652 plate appearances to hit 11 professional home runs, which is just crazy to think about.

It’s not just the bat that has become important, as Clement is incredibly versatile. With the Buffalo Bisons, Clement played 69.1 innings at first base, 41 innings at second base, 283 innings at shortstop, 75.2 innings at third base, eight innings in right field, and 34 innings in left field. While there are no statistics like Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) or Outs Above Average (OAA) in the minor league, Clement made just six errors with five of them coming at shortstop.

There is, however, defensive stats in the big leagues, and they back up what you see with the eye test. Clement mainly played shortstop with the Jays, playing 100 innings at the position and posting a 4 DRS and a 2 OAA at one of the hardest positions in baseball. It’s not a stretch to say with more time  at the position, Clement’s numbers would have been even better.

Could Ernie Clement become the regular third baseman

Sticking with the defensive stats, Clement played just three innings at third base for the Jays in 2023 where he had -1 OAA and 0 DRS. However, he played 201.1 innings with the Cleveland Guardians and Oakland Athletics in 2022, where he had 4 DRS and OAA, which one again proves that he’s a very skilled infielder. His defence may not be on Chapman’s level at third base, but he’s not going to cost the Jays runs.

And then you have how he’s performed with the bat in Spring Training. In 44 plate appearances, Clement is slashing .357/.386/.667 with three home runs and 8 RBI. Moreover, he has a 4.5 BB% and an even more impressive 2.3 K%, which is once again incredibly difficult to achieve.

There’s no telling how the power surge will translate in Major League Baseball. Furthermore, the impressive defensive numbers are encouraging but are also in a small sample size. It’s unknown how those numbers and his defence would hold up after 1000 innings at one position.

Still, Ernie Clement’s surge in power since the start of 2023 has positioned him to be a leading candidate as the everyday third baseman. If he can’t achieve that, there’s still a lot to like as a super utility player.