Toronto Blue Jay Having Revenge Series Against A's

Every now and again, A's fans will wonder how life could have been different if Aaron Judge had ended up signing with the Athletics after they selected him in the 31st round of the 2010 MLB Draft. It was never going to happen, since he was committed to playing at Fresno State, but they took a shot on the local guy anyway.

When it comes to Toronto Blue Jays' (superstar?) infielder Ernie Clement, the question isn't "what if?" it's "why not?" The A's have been rebuilding for the past three to four years now, and in September of 2022, they claimed him off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians, and got him into a few games down the stretch.

In his brief stint with the Athletics, he was swinging at sliders down and away consistently, so when he was released the following March, it wasn't much of a surprise. What has been surprising is the new life that being with the Blue Jays has provided for Clement. Why not the A's? The team hit on Brent Rooker the following year, so it hasn't been all bad.

Toronto scooped Clement up immediately after the A's released him, and he's been a consistent player for them in 2024 and this season. Right now he's batting .273 with a .315 OBP, three homers, nine doubles, and 17 RBI. While the production isn't otherworldly, he's certainly showing the A's what they passed on this series.

Through two games, the Blue Jays' second baseman has gone 7-for-10 (.700) with two home runs and six RBI. A quarter of his hits for the month have come in the past two days against the green and gold, as well as half of his May RBI total. He's also bumped his average up nearly 30 points while dropping 67% of his homers on the year against the A's.

Toronto's offense ranks No. 7 in baseball in wRC+ for the month of May with a 115 (100 is league average), but for a struggling group of A's pitchers that rank last in ERA this month with a 6.61 as a unit, Clement has to be the scariest bat in that lineup--despite the presence of Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Clement has been so hot, that he has started imitating Guerrero's signature home run trot, which has now been dubbed "The Ernie Shuffle."

MLB.com's Keegan Matheson quoted Clement after Thursday's game. "Every time [Guerrero] does it, he seems to keep hitting them, so I thought maybe I’d throw a little flair in there and try it,” Clement said. “I don’t think it was quite as smooth. I think he’s been doing it for a lot longer, but I’ll just keep working on it. I’ll get back to the drawing board and keep trying to get better.”

“I was laughing,” Guerrero said. “I kept laughing and after I hit a home run, I told him, ‘Hey, I showed you how to do it. That is how you do it.’”

Clement showed some flair rounding the bases on Friday night as well. Hey, if it's working for him, best not to mess with it.

As for the A's, they'll be sending out former Blue Jays prospect Gunnar Hoglund on Saturday. He'll be the first right-hander the A's have started this series, so perhaps that will change their fortunes up North. It would also be nice for Hoglund to introduce a little "what if?" headed Toronto's way as well.