Ernie Clement jumped to the No. 2 spot in Toronto’s lineup card released Thursday, positioning him near the top of the order against Boston Red Sox left-hander Payton Tolle at Rogers Centre.
The move comes even though Clement has never recorded a hit against Tolle in his career, and says more about Toronto’s platoon strategy than about Clement’s recent form.
Ernie Clement’s History Against Payton Tolle
Clement is 0-for-5 with two walks against Tolle in seven career plate appearances, according to the Boston Globe, a line that stands out given the second baseman’s strong contact skills at the plate this season. The rest of Toronto’s regulars have not solved the 23-year-old left-hander either. Andrés Giménez has gone 3-for-4 against him, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sits at 1-for-5, and Alejandro Kirk, Nathan Lukes and Myles Straw have combined to go hitless in nine at-bats against Tolle.
But the Blue Jays have given Tolle trouble nonetheless. He is 0-2 against Toronto across two career starts. He lasted only 4 2/3 innings in a loss on April 28, walking four batters and allowing three earned runs. He returned on June 16 and worked five innings in a 6-1 defeat, striking out six while still giving up three earned runs.
Clement enters Thursday hitting .281 with nine home runs and roughly 40 RBI on the year, numbers that make his climb up the batting order less of a surprise. He has spent much of the summer hitting lower in Toronto’s lineup, so a jump to second represents a vote of confidence from the coaching staff, Tolle’s ledger against him notwithstanding.
Ernie Clement and Toronto’s Approach to Lefties
Toronto’s plan against southpaws is not subtle. The lineup stacks five right-handed bats â Charles McAdoo, Clement, Guerrero Jr., George Springer and Kazuma Okamoto â across the first five spots, pushing left-handed-hitting Andrés Giménez down to sixth and benching Jesús Sánchez entirely. Brandon Valenzuela, a switch-hitting catcher, replaces Alejandro Kirk behind the plate, another swap that fits the pattern.
Manager John Schneider’s willingness to adjust lineups based on the opposing pitcher has been a season-long theme, even when the results haven’t fully backed it up. Some of Toronto’s right-handed hitters have posted modest numbers against lefties despite the platoon advantage, and the team’s overall production against southpaws reflects that unevenness.
Toronto is 17-15 against left-handed starters this season, batting .218 with a .628 OPS in those contests. That trails the .253 average and .701 OPS the Blue Jays have posted against right-handers, even as Toronto sits at 59-63 overall and four games under .500 with a wild-card push still alive heading into the stretch run.
The Red Sox arrive on a five-game losing streak after entering the series at 64-56, while the Blue Jays have won 10 of their last 14 games and taken nine of 12 meetings from Boston this season. A win Thursday would extend that dominance over their American League East rival and keep Toronto within shouting distance of a playoff spot with roughly seven weeks left on the schedule.
Clement’s move to the No. 2 hole may be a one-day experiment tied to Tolle, or it could stick if Toronto keeps chasing the platoon edge ahead. Either way, Thursday’s card offers a clear look at how Schneider wants to attack a tough left-handed hurler down the stretch.
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