Entering Thursday and 2024 more broadly, Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement was an unlikely candidate to hit one of the bad-ball home runs of the century.
After all, the well-traveled infielder has hardly been known for his power hitting over the course of his four-year career. In the first three seasons of his career, he hit four home runs in 138 games; baseball fans would be far more likely to recognize his consistently good defense.
That has changed. After hitting home runs in back-to-back games on Monday and Wednesday, Clement crushed an eye-level pitch into the Rogers Centre's left-field seats Thursday to give his team a 4–0 lead over the Los Angeles Angels in an eventual 5–3 win.
Statcast measured the pitch at 4.6 feet off the plate, making it the second-highest turned into a home run since tracking began in the mid-2010s.
Ernie Clement!
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 23, 2024
This pitch was 4.60 ft above the ground, the 2nd-highest pitch hit for a HR under pitch tracking (2008), behind only:
Kyle Higashioka at 4.61 ft on 6/12/22
Clement has 2 HR on pitches 4+ ft above the ground this year, tied for the most in a season in that span. https://t.co/Dqgm7djFpn
“I probably shouldn’t be swinging at pitches like that one,” Clement told reporters via the AP in an understatement. “I’ve struck out on that pitch a couple of times this year. I just try to get the barrel to the ball with two strikes.”
Clement now has 10 home runs this season—one shy of the most he's hit in any league, for the International League's Buffalo Bisons in 2023.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ernie Clement Hits Highly Unusual Home Run for Blue Jays On Pitch at Eye Level.
