[Music] all right welcome back to Blair and Barker uh for uh April 9th 707 will be the first pitch tonight at the Roger Center as the Jays take on the Seattle Mariners and I don't want to waste any time we're very pleased at this time to be joined By Ernie Clement of the Blue Jays down at the Roger Center Ernie thanks so much for joining us on Blair and Barker um welcome back to Toronto uh welcome I guess day after the the home opener I just want to get your your sense of just the atmosphere lea
ding up to a home opener and an opening day in general from your point of view how how special is it you know I talked to Kevin who spent a lot of time in the minors and he talked about how special opening day was in the majors how special is it for you yeah it was it was really cool um this is a special group to be a part of and uh you know especially with all the uh Renovations and everything uh it was it was rocking here last night so it was it was really good to get a win Ernie how good is t
he back behind the scenes you mentioned the renovations I mean it's got to be cool to walk in a clubhouse and see that kind of Clubhouse and you know what the what the Roger Center brings how beneficial is that going to be just to make you the best player you can be yeah the amount of resources we have are uh I mean it's amazing I I can't begin to tell you how how awesome it is uh I mean you kind of have to see it for yourself to believe how incredible it is but um you know we're lucky we're luc
ky and this this is a special group like I said so uh you know the more resources the better and um you know we're going to use it to our uh Advantage Ernie one of the things Kevin always talks about when we talk about you was just is is how just how simple your swing is and how easy and easily maintainable it is is that something you've always had an knack for or is that something that you had to develop as you got older I've always tried to keep it as simple as possible um you know the more yo
u have going on with your swing the more that can go wrong so uh you know especially over the last couple years i' I've tried to keep it as simple as possible and um you know I've seen some some success and you know I'm going to keep it rolling yeah routines are very important especially with guys who don't play every day how how have you had to adjust routines are have you come up with some that you're trying to figure out iron out you know playing time's a big deal when you don't play you got
to figure it out how how big of a a you know interest have you put into just trying to figure out the best rent team for you yeah honestly Matty ha and uh Hunter men have been awesome uh you know they got us grinded in the cage during the game before the game um and and the resources that we have available are are pretty amazing so um you know even if you're not playing every day there's there's still a ton of resources you can use and um you know they they keep us ready to go for sure yeah Erni
e I know you know this but you're hitting 364 off the fast ball and I'm sure opposing teams understand you're hitting 3 64 off the fast ball that will mean you will start to see more spin have you tried to figure out ways to you know maybe hit a couple more breaking balls earlier and count see that a little bit longer how have you tried to you talk about what you're trying to do in the cage have you tried to combat that you know seeing more spin in the cage how are you attacking those kind of ba
ts yeah I think I just have to stay disciplined in my Approach uh for each individual at bat um you know I do my homework and and I prepare so you know I know the pitcher's best pitch and um most of the time I'm going up there looking for a fastball but I'm I'm willing to you know make the adjustments and you know I have no problem hitting a slider or a curveball Ernie you mentioned Matt hag and I know that you throughout your career you've never had a problem making contact but I understand fro
m reading what you know an article Arden swelling wrote in you in spring training Matt really played a role in taking it taking you to the next level last year didn't he yeah he really did um you know he just does such a good job of creating a relationship with with each player and um you know I can talk to him about anything but at the end of the day um you know he's he's a buddy of mine um and we've created that relationship over the last year or so um but his knowledge of the game and of hitt
ing is is incredible and he he he cleaned up a lot of uh mechanical things with my uh my swing but you know my Approach uh has has been the same for the last year okay on the defensive side you play a lot of positions you play second you play third you play short you play a little left like there's a lot going on there which one of those positions have you had to put more thought into to make yourself really good at one of those you know the left side is uh you got to be locked in at all at all
times and um you know I've I've really worked on my throwing um I I've never had a very strong arm but I I've learned how to throw and spin the ball and um I get good really good carry across the diamond so you know now I can play Third and short and um I just kind of my athleticism take over Ernie sorry Jeff one more how about internal clock right side of the infield left side of the infield it's the runner right do you catch yourself looking at the runner because I have seen you you know get s
ort of a hot shot at Short you sort of peek at the runner sort of will tell you what you're talking about I can take a little off I don't have to throw it as hard is there something to the internal CL clock part of it well I I think at the big league some guys don't run as hard as they can so you got to take a peak um at first just to see if they're busting out of the box but you know before the pitch is even thrown I know I know the good Runners versus the the not so good Runners so um my inter
nal clock is is is pretty good so I I I kind of know before the pitch even happens awesome ER I know you had options uh a couple years ago What attracted you to the Blue Jays and how did that how did that come about was it just was it a you know understanding that you were going to get fairly regular playing time at Triple A and that that could lead to a job in the majors yeah that's all I care about I just wanted to play um the last few years including Co um you know I just hadn't really had th
at bats or the playing time and I just missed playing baseball I love this game so much so it was just awesome to to be back out there and and the guys in the clubhouse in Buffalo were incredible and then um when they when they brought me up here I I uh I was welcomed with open arms and and these guys were just awesome so you know I definitely made the right call Ernie what's next for you you know you made the team you're a contact guy you're starting to figure out routines you know you you look
s like you got a little bit more power now is that sort of the next step right ambushing maybe looking for a breaking ball early in the count you can get out and around create some Back Spin what's next for you I just want to help this team win man I uh you know I obviously I want to impact the baseball a little bit more and um that's going to help the team win so um if I can continue making hard contact that's uh that's only going to be better for this team and um I just want to make plays in t
he field when I'm out there so you know when they put me in there I'm going to help this team with that's all I care about Ernie wondering last year this team's production at home wasn't great we had B on earlier in spring or earlier this year in the offseason I should say and he was talking about how he thought that maybe guys got a little frustrated last year is how important is it to establish some sort of offensive home field advantages and is it something you guys talk about well I think yo
u have to take pride and playing in front of Toronto in front of your home crowd we we pack this place out pretty good every night so uh you know I think it's time we start taking pride and and playing in front of these fans and um you know last night was a great start so uh you know we're going to build off that and keep it going Ernie do you have a favorite player do you have somebody you look at that maybe is similar to you that you can feed off of do you have a somebody on speed dial that wh
en you struggle you call who do you talk to when it comes to that well besides everybody on our team uh I I love watching Jose Ramirez I played with him in Cleveland and uh the way he plays the game and you know respects the game of baseball and um he he doesn't let a fastball get by him so you know I've learned a lot from him and and the way he played the game but i' I'd say he's probably my favorite to watch yeah it's early sample size for you in your career facing really good pitching is ther
e one guy that stands out to you that maybe mine was Kevin Brown you know the the fast ball in the throwing at your head you know he would sort of intimidate you before he actually released the baseball is there a certain guy that has stood out to you that you're like man that's some filthy stuff I better be prepared the next time I face him Luis Gill kicked my butt pretty good last time I faced him so I'd say him right now but I'd like to I'd like to face him again why why is that was it power
was it location was it late movement why was that all the above yeah he he had a really good mix um and then obviously uh the starter from Houston the other night Blanco who threw the no hitter against us had an amazing mix and you know he was hitting the corners and and really didn't give in so you know guys like that are tough yeah Ernie we're going to let run man thanks for doing this uh keep it going my friend be well yeah good luck all right boys see you
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