DUNEDIN, Fla. — Former high-school scorer and resident Buffalo Sabres fan Ernie Clement watched Jack Hughes score in overtime to secure Olympic gold for the United States and became even more excited to play for the American team at the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
“Yeah, you just see the pride and the emotion that they’re playing with, and all the other athletes in the Olympics, too, it makes it so special to represent your country,” the Toronto Blue Jays infielder said. “The fact that we’re playing a few weeks after the Olympics, everybody’s had a taste of representing their country and wearing their country’s colours with pride, and we’re going to continue to do that.”
Clement has long drawn inspiration from various American national teams, referencing the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” squad during the World Series, and following the WBC since its inception.
“I remember the catch Adam Jones made on Manny Machado (at the 2017 tournament), that really sticks out,” said Clement. “I just remember those guys playing with so much emotion before the regular season, when you’re not supposed to be playing that type of intense baseball. It’s just so cool because I love those moments. I love the intensity and the emotion. I always feel like I’m at my best when the stakes are high. I can’t wait to represent the country, and whenever I’m on that field, I’m going to play with pride.”
The 29-year-old leaves for the tournament March 1 and his first time playing for an American national team at any level — “I don’t know if I was ever good enough, it’s a real honour,” he said — comes after he set a single post-season record with 30 hits last fall.
USA manager Mark DeRosa, seeking a versatile player who can offer flexibility both in the field and at the plate, called Blue Jays associate manager DeMarlo Hale, whom he played for in Toronto back in 2013, to ask about Clement, leading to an official invitation.
The selection further validated how far his career his swung since being released by the Athletics on March 12, 2023, and signing with the Blue Jays as a minor-league free agent a couple of days later.
He put himself on the organizational radar in 29 games over two stints in the majors that first year, established himself the next season and broke out in 2025, batting .277/.313/.398 while earning Gold Glove consideration at third base and for the utility role.
Then, Clement found yet another gear in the playoffs, going 30-for-73 in 18 games across the three rounds, scoring 13 times and driving in nine others, a stretch he’s looking to pull from this season.
“I have a lot to build off,” he said. “That was success on the highest stage, in the most pressure, and I feel like I did a really good job of slowing the game down because of how I prepared and got ready for the game. I could just go out there and trust my instincts and I didn’t have to think about anything. It was a locked-in and a focus that I’ve known I can get to. It took a lot of failure throughout the year and throughout my career but I’ve found what works for me. I think I can keep that going through this year.”
Doing so now that post-season success has raised his profile across the industry could be even more challenging.
Throughout those 18 games, Clement recognized that the Yankees, Mariners and Dodgers needed to come after him — “Who would you rather face, Ernie Clement or George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.?” he said — which allowed him to remain in “attack mode.”
That he walked only once over the three series underlines how “I wasn’t going to let them steal a strike,” he said. “My swing was in a good spot and I knew they were going to attack me. It fed right into my strength.”
Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins agreed, and although he doesn’t expect teams to pitch Clement very differently this season, there are sure to be adjustments.
“He’s building out some plans to counter that and feature some different versions of himself,” said Popkins. “That’s what makes him really hard to pitch to. You don’t know if he’s going to jump you or grind you out. He’s just an awesome guy with a very special skill-set, and that’s what we saw there.”
What people saw there might have included a World Series-clinching hit if not for Dodgers manager David Roberts’ mid-ninth-inning defensive change and centre-fielder Andy Pages’ spectacular catch on a drive to deep left.
Over the winter, Clement “watched the replay of it a lot,” but said he was able to move past it relatively quickly.
“When I woke up the morning of Game 7, because I really didn’t get very much sleep, I told myself this is the last game no matter what, win or lose, this it, and it was a very liberating, freeing feeling. Like, Let’s go out there with our hair on fire and whatever happens, happens,” he said. “After the game, I wanted to soak in every minute with the boys. These are going to be some of my best friends forever, even after my baseball career is over. We spent every waking second with each other and we played so hard for each other, it was so much fun and I just really didn’t want it to end.
“But being a baseball player, one of our superpowers is being able to turn the page and move on pretty quickly,” he added. “I was able to be thankful for the season. I couldn’t wait to get home and see my buddies and my family who I didn’t really get to spend a whole lot of time with in that playoff run. That’s all I could think about, hanging with those guys for as long as possible and then I was able to just flip the switch and go into off-season mode.”
Now, Clement is very much back on, searching for another moment, first with for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic, and then again with the Blue Jays.
