[Ashbourne] Blue Jays’ fill-in shortstop Ernie Clement might be MLB’s weirdest hitter
September 7, 2023
[Ashbourne] Blue Jays’ fill-in shortstop Ernie Clement might be MLB’s weirdest hitter
8 comments
Tldr: why waste time see lots pitches when 1 pitch do trick?
Admittedly I don’t understand most baseball stats. But I do love “weird” so go Big Ern!!!
>Most players who fit that description are guys who play the game much like the players they’re replacing, just at a lower level. For better or for worse, Clement is something different entirely.
I don’t know, if you just said “Blue Jay with good bat-to-ball skills who has a low whiff rate despite swinging at a lot of pitches out of the zone,” Bo Bichette is exactly the person that comes to mind TBH.
Almost like he’s playing in MLB for the first time in a while and has decided to take a risk and see if he can stick with the big club.
He profiles most similarly to Arraez as a hitter probably. And since Arraez in 2023 is one of the only examples in recent history of a guy with that approach actually making it work, it’s a difficult example to follow.
A fairly empty .270 average is probably a minor league player but if it’s more like .300, that’s pretty good for a utility player. And he’s certainly capable of padding some extra base hits in there, so if he can hit like that while managing shortstop…that’s pretty good.
Keep him up, send espi down
And pitcher! IIRC he’s also the only player to throw a knuckleball this season.
Are my eyes lying or does he have lightning quick ball transfers? Any stats around for this?
8 comments
Tldr: why waste time see lots pitches when 1 pitch do trick?
Admittedly I don’t understand most baseball stats. But I do love “weird” so go Big Ern!!!
>Most players who fit that description are guys who play the game much like the players they’re replacing, just at a lower level. For better or for worse, Clement is something different entirely.
I don’t know, if you just said “Blue Jay with good bat-to-ball skills who has a low whiff rate despite swinging at a lot of pitches out of the zone,” Bo Bichette is exactly the person that comes to mind TBH.
Almost like he’s playing in MLB for the first time in a while and has decided to take a risk and see if he can stick with the big club.
He profiles most similarly to Arraez as a hitter probably. And since Arraez in 2023 is one of the only examples in recent history of a guy with that approach actually making it work, it’s a difficult example to follow.
A fairly empty .270 average is probably a minor league player but if it’s more like .300, that’s pretty good for a utility player. And he’s certainly capable of padding some extra base hits in there, so if he can hit like that while managing shortstop…that’s pretty good.
Keep him up, send espi down
And pitcher! IIRC he’s also the only player to throw a knuckleball this season.
Are my eyes lying or does he have lightning quick ball transfers? Any stats around for this?