A slump, a meeting and Ernie Clement's rise to one of baseball's best defenders

New York Times

a day ago

ST. LOUIS — The feeling was unfamiliar for Ernie Clement. The Toronto Blue Jays infielder found himself deep in his first real defensive rut.
In May 2024, he wasn't fielding anything cleanly and couldn't make a consistent throw, committing five errors in a 12-game stretch. After his final fielding mistake — a toss from third base that soared way high and skittered into the camera well — Clement stared across the infield, a blank expression on his face. The error prompted a meeting with Blue Jays infield coach Carlos Febles and associate manager DeMarlo Hale. The trio hoped to bust the slump and re-find Clement's fielding form. Instead, it unlocked a new level.
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With a revamped pregame routine, Clement played perfect, errorless defence in his next 20 contests. He finished last season as the Blue Jays' top defensive infielder and was an American League Gold Glove finalist at third base. The impacts of that meeting still linger, as Clement establishes himself as one of baseball's best and most versatile defenders.
'It's easy to say, 'Hey, we need to be fundamentally this and fundamentally that,'' Hale said. 'You can use that word, but you have to have some actions behind it. And I think, to sum it up, Ernie put the actions behind it.'
Clement never had to think about defence as he rose to MLB. For the 29-year-old, it was all athleticism and instincts. His agent, Steve Skrinar, sat beside a Cleveland scout during one of Clement's final games at the University of Virginia in 2017. The junior shortstop charged in on a ball, bare-handing the bouncer before firing on to first. 'That's O-Dog reminiscent,' Skrinar said, invoking longtime Jays infielder and four-time Gold Glove winner Orlando Hudson.
'Yeah, that's spot on,' the Cleveland cross-checker responded.
A few weeks later, the Guardians selected Clement in the fourth round of the 2017 draft. In his first three MLB seasons, Clement graded out as an above-average defender, but was lost in the shadow of elite Cleveland infielders José Ramírez and Andrés Giménez. Febles saw the potential for more — and told him in that fateful meeting.
'You have good hands, arm,' Febles said. 'You have everything to be a real good defender. We need to kind of pick it up a little bit in terms of the preparation to lock it in.'
After the meeting, Clement began taking pre-game grounders at game speed. The pace of hits quickened and the spray of balls widened, challenging the infielder's range. He added hand activation drills into the warmup, too, fielding quick hits off a machine to work on feel. Weeks after the meeting, Clement's defensive confidence was back.
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'June or July last year, I felt like I was never going to miss a ball,' Clement said. 'This year, I've carried it over and I feel really confident with the work that I've put in.'
Clement currently ranks as the ninth-most valuable defender in the sport per Baseball Savant (plus-8 fielding runs). Despite Gold Glovers Daulton Varsho and Giménez missing extended stretches, Clement's elevated defence has kept Toronto as a top-five fielding team. He's the third-best defensive infielder and the only member of the top 12 to play more than one position.
Manning every infield position in 2025, Clement embraces versatility. He's even pitched for the Jays in prior years and is the team's emergency catcher. With Addison Barger emerging at third base and Giménez locked in at second, Clement's ability to move around allows manager John Schneider to keep his .273 average and team-leading 1.9 WAR (per Baseball-Reference) consistently in the lineup. Before last year, Clement never played more than 70 games in a season. This year, versatility has earned him time in 65 of Toronto's 67 games. Eventually, it may earn him gold.
Clement and Houston's Mauricio Dubón are the only players in baseball to rank within baseball's top 30 defensive players while manning more than three defensive spots. Those play-anywhere guys were once forgotten warriors, but in 2022, MLB introduced a utility Gold Glove award in each league honoring the top defenders who play multiple positions.
If Clement keeps bare-handing balls and bouncing around Toronto's infield, he can become the fourth player and first Blue Jay to win the AL utility Gold Glove. If gold gets stitched onto Clement's glove, it'll come thanks, in part, to that May 2024 slump and the meeting that followed.
'Since then, I feel like I'm starting to climb the ladder,' Clement said. 'In terms of where I want to be.'
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Toronto survived a four-run fourth inning and three-run ninth from the Cardinals, holding on to win 10-9 on Tuesday. Giménez hit his first homer since March, and Alejandro Kirk kept his hot streak alive with a second blast in as many nights. The Toronto backstop has 11 hits and six RBI in his last five games, hitting over .430 in June.
'Kirky doesn't say a lot of words,' pitcher Chris Bassitt said. 'But then all of a sudden he goes out there and plays some of the best defence, and his offence is off the charts right now. So, obviously, he's carrying our team. And it's just fun.'
The win pushed the Jays to 37-30 on the season, four games behind the Yankees for top spot in the American League East.