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Blue Jays: Why Ernie Clement is built to avoid an offensive drop-off
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Photo credit: © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Ben Wrixon
Apr 2, 2026, 16:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 2, 2026, 14:38 EDT
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Ernie Clement was one of the biggest breakout stars for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2025. His season full of base hits and great plays on defence culminated in a MLB-record 30 hits during the team’s unforgettable postseason run. 
Clement is now undoubtedly one of the most popular Blue Jays in Toronto. That isn’t likely to change if he keeps playing the way he has been—but can he? 
His 2025 regular-season slash line of .277/.313/.398 was solid, but hardly impossible to replicate for such a talented player. His career-high .277 batting average over 157 games is the main number worth focusing on for Clement, who is a contact-oriented hitter first and foremost. That’s the number he needs to maintain to keep being successful. 
The challenge is that batting average is a fluky stat that has fallen out of favour for valid seasons. Hitters that put the ball in play a lot can luck their way into hits, whether it’s a fortunate bloop or taking advantage of how the defence is aligned. Still, Clement did some things differently last year that should bode well for him moving forward. 
His line-drive rate increased to 23% from 20.1% the previous year in 2024. Line drives are good, especially when you make as much contact as Clement does. So is lowering your groundball rate from 38.2% to 34%. Maintaining these improvements—or better yet, continued development—should help him keep racking up hits. 
Clement has the reputation for being an aggressive hitter, especially early in the count, and the numbers from last year backed that up. He swung at a career-high 71.6% of pitches in the strike zone in 2025. His overall swing percentage dropped, however, as he trimmed his out-of-zone swing rate from 43% to an improved 36.3%. While he’s never going to be known for his plate discipline, Clement made positive strides in his strike recognition and swing decisions. 
Maintaining this change will be very important for Clement in 2026. He’s always going to swing a lot—he swung at more than half the pitches he saw last year—so swinging at pitches he can put in play will be key, because that’s when good things happen for him. Through six games and 25 at-bats, he has collected eight hits (three doubles) with two RBIs while striking out just once. He owns a .320/.320/.440 slash line with a .760 OPS. 
The good news is that none of the strides Clement made last year were monumental or unsustainable. Small changes to his approach paid big dividends, and continued refinement should help him avoid a disappointing season after such an exciting breakout.

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