In the middle of a long, constant MLB season, it can be easy to overlook the special things that are happening on a day-to-day basis.
But sometimes it's good to slow down and smell the roses. And one of the best roses of the Toronto Blue Jays' season is Ernie Clement.
Clement, the chatty, fun-loving utility infielder, is quietly having one of the smoothest hitting seasons in the American League and certainly the best season of his MLB career.
The easy number to focus on is Clement's .306 average, which ranks in the top-10 of the AL.
Just as interesting is how Clement gets to that number. He rarely strikes out, at just over 10% of his at bats, and he walks even less.
Clement makes lots and lots of contact. In 268 at bats, he has 61 singles, to go along with 17 doubles and four homers.
The 5-foot-11, 29-year old from Brighton, N.Y. set a career high in Wins Above Replacement last season at 3.4. He's already got 3.0 WAR this season.
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Clement is even more valuable to the Blue Jays because of his versatility.
He has played 52 games at third base, 20 at second, 12 at shortstop and 10 at first base. Talk about a super-utility infielder.
Bo Bichette has said Clement deserves to be an All-Star. That'll probably be hard to pull off in what amounts to a popularity and name-recognition contest for much of the process.
But Clement has blossomed into a unique kind of star in modern baseball, the contact-hitting, do-a-little-bit-of-everything, high-socks wearing ballplayer. Blue Jays fans should be sure to not take that for granted.
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