Blue Jays GM Sends Clear Message About Ernie Clement's Future at Second Base
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It isn't often that a player who was an All-Star in the first half of a season might not be solidified the following year at his position, but the final months of the season did not fare well for Toronto Blue Jays' second baseman Ernie Clement.
Clement went from one of the best bats in the game, as he used his postseason success to propel him into a strong start in 2026. However, his OPS dropped 258 points after the All-Star break, which is impossible to ignore, and general manager Ross Atkins spoke about what it is going to look like for him moving forward.
SportsNet reporter Ben Nicholson-Smith asked Atkins about whether he has the job at second base, and Atkins stated, "He's going to have to earn it, but he always has".
Asked about Ernie Clement and whether he has the second base job, Ross Atkins said he’s going to have to earn it. “But he always has.”
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) September 30, 2026
That seems to be putting it kindly, as Clement went from an OPS+ of 131 in the first half compared to 54+ in the second. For those who don't know, this statistic measures where a hitter sits compared to the league average, with 100 being the baseline.
Unfortunately, Clement continued to get worse down the stretch when the Blue Jays were still in the hunt for a playoff spot batting .150 in September with a .386 OPS, and with Charles McAdoo begging for a spot on the roster, he isn't solidified at the position by any means.
McAdoo Was Impressive in His Few At-Bats in 2026
One thing that immediately stands out about McAdoo was how much better he was after being recalled at the end of the summer, as he went from batting .160 in his first eight games to .292 in his final 28, and his OPS jumped nearly 340 points.
McAdoo went down to Buffalo to regain his confidence at the plate while also figuring out how to slug again. By the end of the year, with the Bison, he had logged 16 home runs in fewer than 90 games, to complement 57 RBI.
There isn't a lot more that McAdoo can gain in Triple-A, especially when one figures in how versatile he is defensively. The Jays needed someone who could suit up in left field, and he did that for them even though he is primarily an infielder.
By the time September came to a close, McAdoo had played first,second, and third as well. Unfortunately for Clement, his defensive decline was a lowlight for most of 2026.
Clement put on one of the greatest playoff runs at the plate in history, so everyone knows he is capable of performing in the big moments. However, Atkins is right not to be totally set on him as the second baseman in 2027.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.