TORONTO — For many hitters, it might have been a simple take.
The pitch from Angels right-hander Mike Baumann was 97 m.p.h. and excessive – not just a bit excessive, however eye stage, greater than 4 and a half ft above the bottom. But Clement, the free swinging 28-year-old who fought all spring to earn a roster spot on the Blue Jays, favored the appears to be like of it. For some cause, he swung.
In opposition to all odds, Clement discovered the ball along with his barrel and crushed it, sending it over the left subject wall at Rogers Centre for what can be the definitive hit within the Blue Jays’ 5-3 win over the Angels. The swing was as unorthodox because it was spectacular — and you could possibly say the identical about this 2024 season for Clement, who has now homered in three consecutive video games.
Spencer Horwitz, Alejandro Kirk, Will Wagner and Joey Loperfido additionally contributed massive hits of their very own whereas Ryan Yarbrough offered precious bulk work in a bullpen sport for the Blue Jays, who enhance to 60-68 with the win.
All week, Clement’s been producing on the plate. Going through Alexis Diaz Monday, he was prepared when the Reds’ nearer hung an 0-1 slider over the guts of the plate.
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After a time off Tuesday, Clement was as soon as once more in swing mode when Nick Martinez threw a first-pitch cutter down the center.
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In each circumstances, Clement did precisely what he ought to do, however numerous good hitters hit hanging breaking balls for residence runs. Just about none of them do that.
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In fact, these three swings don’t imply Clement has all of a sudden change into a slugging third baseman. Coming into play Thursday, he ranked within the backside 5 percentile in exit velocity, bat velocity and hard-hit fee. Nobody’s about to confuse him with Jose Ramirez.
However even when Clement goes again to being a no-true-outcomes hitter — that’s to say, somebody who hardly ever walks, strikes out or homers — he can nonetheless carry actual worth to the Blue Jays. This season provides excellent proof of idea on that entrance.
Whereas Clement virtually by no means walks, he’s additionally extremely arduous to strike out, rating second in strikeout fee among the many 316 MLB hitters with at the very least 200 plate appearances this yr, trailing solely Luis Arraez, the sport’s preeminent contact specialist. Which means the speedy Clement’s placing the ball in play always and forcing opposing groups to make performs.
To this point, it’s working with a .272 batting common and .732 OPS on the season. Mixed with glorious defence — he ranks ninth in MLB in defensive runs saved this yr — and you’ve got significant contributions. Baseball-Reference calculates his WAR at 3.0 for the season whereas FanGraphs had him at 1.7 coming into play Thursday.
Now, none of which means Clement’s a lock to do that once more. Beneficial although his manufacturing has been, it shouldn’t cease the Blue Jays from pursuing extra established choices at third this winter.
However Clement deserves credit score for enjoying so effectively for the reason that Athletics launched him in March of 2023 and incomes extra big-league enjoying time than he’s ever had earlier than. In the meantime, the Blue Jays have cause to be optimistic that they’ve discovered a big-league contributor even when his exact position for 2025 and past has but to be decided.
