The Toronto Blue Jays go for a sweep of their three-game series against the Seattle Mariners Sunday at Rogers Centre, needing to bank the win to keep their hopes of an American League playoff spot alive.
After winning the AL East title last year, the Blue Jays have struggled through most of the 2026 season. But with 25 games left to play, Toronto now sits just 1 1/2 games out of the third and final AL wild-card spot despite a sub-.500 record of 67-70.
Before the Mariners finale, the Blue Jays announced that their 2026 All-Star infielder Ernie Clement would not be in the starting lineup. Here's why.
Manager John Schneider has held Clement out without an injured list move several times already this season, and the pattern points to a cold stretch at the plate, not a health issue.
Toronto's official card for the series finale has Andrés Giménez at shortstop and Charles McAdoo at second base, the two infield jobs Clement has been splitting most of the year.
TORONTO BLUE JAYS STARTING LINEUP
SP: Max Scherzer (RHP) • 1-7, 7.02 ERA
August 30, 2026 • Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON • 1:37 p.m. EDT • Mariners at Blue Jays
#
Player
Pos
AVG
SLG
1
Brett Bateman
CF
.329
.395
7
Andrés Giménez
SS
.241
.357
8
Charles McAdoo
2B
.243
.357
Lineups confirmed. Season stats shown (AVG / SLG).
Toronto's latest injury and transaction tracker , updated Aug. 29, lists 15 players out with everything from a teres major strain to Tommy John recovery. Clement isn't among them.
The reality is that Clement is going through a brutal stretch at the plate. The 30-year-old has gone 0-for-8 with two strikeouts over his last two games . He's batting .143 over his last seven games and .205 over his last 30.
Schneider has used that approach with Clement all year. He sat him Aug. 15 against the New York Yankees following a 2-for-13 skid, and again Aug. 19 with an illness that cost him one start, according to Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling . In June, left hip soreness sidelined him for the Chicago Cubs series June 19-20, then again as a precaution against Houston on June 23-24, before he returned at shortstop June 25 without ever landing on the injured list.
The pattern goes back further. Schneider sat Clement for the first time all season on May 1, again with no injury attached.
"He'll probably make his way into the game. But trying to keep some guys involved, trying to give him a little bit of a blow," Schneider said, as quoted by Sportsnet's Shi Davidi .
SEATTLE MARINERS STARTING LINEUP
SP: Logan Gilbert (RHP) • 11-7, 3.36 ERA
August 30, 2026 • Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON • 1:37 p.m. EDT • Mariners at Blue Jays
#
Player
Pos
AVG
SLG
3
Julio Rodríguez
CF
.246
.404
8
J.P. Crawford
SS
.209
.338
9
Brock Rodden
3B
.158
.263
Lineups confirmed. Season stats shown (AVG / SLG).
Sunday's absence doesn't erase a strong 2026. Clement is hitting .277 with a .301 on-base percentage, nine home runs and 43 RBIs across 133 games, still the highest average on Toronto's roster, according to career splits tracked by StatMuse . He made his first All-Star team this summer, starting at second base for the American League after leading the position in fan voting, according to a Blue Jays Nation report .
The 30-year-old is a University of Virginia product whom Cleveland drafted in the fourth round in 2017. He debuted in the majors in 2021, spent 2022 with the Athletics and joined Toronto in May 2023. Clement owns a career .265 average with 34 home runs and 169 RBIs across parts of six seasons.
Why is the Mariners-Blue Jays Game Delayed Today? When Will it Start?
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