This is Ernie Clement’s third season with the Jays. I think it is fair to say that he’s been a delightful surprise for us.
His defense has been Gold Glove level (at several positions), and his bat has been good:
Standard Batting Table
Age WAR G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ GIDP HBP SH SF 29 2.8 78 275 254 36 77 17 0 4 20 3 3 14 30 .303 .338 .417 .756 111 6 1 3 3
Baseball Reference has his WAR at 2.8. FanGraphs 2.5.
As a hitter, he’s a tale of two batters:
The lefty killer .430/.471/.722.
And the guy who should be at the bottom of the order vs. RHP, .246/.276/.280.
Usually, right-handed batters don’t have the significant splits that left-handed batters do. But not Ernie. I wonder why it is happening? Normally, right-hand batters face so many right-handed pitchers that they get used to them,
Beyond that, he hasn’t hit with the power I expected, but that’s ok, when he’s hitting .300.
He’s interesting, with low bat speed (4th percentile) and a high squared-up percentage (98th percentile). He doesn’t strike out much (10.9% of the time) and he rarely walks (5.1%, up from 2.4% last year).
On defense, he’s terrific at several positions. In total, he’s +12 (third best in baseball, one behind Nick Allen and Bobby Witt). He’s played:
342 innings at third base: 5 OAA.
156 innings at second base: 4 OAA.
48 innings at shortstop: 2 OAA.
51 innings at first base: 1 OAA.
I don’t understand using him at first, but there are many things the Jays do that I don’t understand.
He has a great range (99th percentile) and excellent sprint speed (83rd percentile). I keep thinking he could steal more, but he is 3 for 6 this season, so maybe he should stop trying.
Poll
For his first half I’d grade Ernie Clement an