Blue Jays Make Ernie Clement Announcement After Royals Game

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Gavin Groe | Last updated Aug 26, 2026 8:30 AM ET

The Toronto Blue Jays dropped Tuesday’s series opener against the Kansas City Royals, losing their second straight and dropping further in the American League wild card standings. They now sit 3.0 full games back of the final postseason spot.

With time running out, the Blue Jays lost Tuesday’s game on a baserunning mistake by outfielder Nathan Lukes, who was thrown out at second to end the game, and that kind of miscue has defined too many moments of this season for Toronto.

Still, there have been some genuine bright spots this year. The biggest on the pitching side has been right-hander Dylan Cease, who remains in contention for the AL Cy Young Award.

On the position player side, utility infielder Ernie Clement was the first player voted into the All-Star Game for the American League this year, a testament to how well he has played.

Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement (22)© Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images

Clement had a freak accident during Tuesday’s matchup against Kansas City. He fouled a ball directly into his groin area in the bottom of the eighth inning and immediately fell to the ground in pain with the training staff rushing to assist him. Fortunately, Clement got up and finished the at-bat, ultimately recording a fly out.

After the game, manager John Schneider provided an update on whether the issue would linger and jeopardize Clement’s availability going forward.

While Schneider acknowledged it certainly hurt in the moment, the expectation is that Clement will be right back in the starting lineup for Wednesday’s game (h/t Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet).

John Schneider says he hopes & expects Ernie Clement can be back in the lineup tomorrow.

“Hurts in the moment for sure.”
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) August 26, 2026

With Clement returning, he will look to continue his solid offensive season. Across 129 games this year, the 30-year-old has posted a .283 batting average, .308 on-base percentage, .709 OPS, nine home runs and 43 RBIs.

Getting him back in the lineup for Wednesday gives Toronto one less thing to worry about as they try to climb back into the wild card race by the end of September.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: