Bob Nightengale has seen a lot of baseball. But even he wasn’t ready for this.
The USA Today columnist posted on X that seeing Shohei Ohtani lead the National League in All-Star votes was no surprise. What floored him? Ernie Clement, the Toronto Blue Jays utility infielder, topping the American League ballot.
Let’s be clear about something. Clement is a good player. He hits .294 with a .438 slugging percentage and leads the AL with 20 doubles. But his .315 on-base percentage and .753 OPS are not All-Star starter numbers. He’s not even the best hitter on his own team, let alone the entire league.
So what’s going on here? The Blue Jays fans, man. They are voting like the team just won the World Series instead of sitting at 39-42 and clinging to wild card hopes. Toronto’s fanbase is legendary for stuffing ballot boxes, but this might be their most aggressive campaign yet.
Clement’s story is legitimately cool though. The guy was a fourth-round pick back in 2017 and spent years bouncing around before finding a role. Then he set an MLB record with 30 hits in the 2025 playoffs. A lot of people, myself included, wondered if that was a fluke. But he’s followed it up with a productive 2026 season built on putting the ball in play. In an era obsessed with launch angles and exit velocities, there’s something refreshing about a guy who just makes contact.
Still, the voting says more about Blue Jays fans than about Clement. He’s a solid player having a decent year. He’s not Mike Trout in his prime or Aaron Judge crushing 50 homers. There are at least a handful of American League position players having better seasons who will end up watching from home while Clement takes the field at Citizens Bank Park for the All-Star Game.
For what it’s worth, Clement isn’t the type to get caught up in the hype. The Blue Jays have lost three straight and need to turn things around quickly. They host the Texas Rangers on Friday, and Clement will be back to doing what he does: finding a way to put the bat on the ball. The All-Star votes are nice. But making the playoffs after this rocky start is the real goal.
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