Ernie Clement's rough second half is starting to look eerily familiar for Blue Jays fans.

Clement joined Toronto on a minor-league deal after 110 games with Cleveland and Oakland between 2021 and 2022. He beat out Santiago Espinal for a roster spot entering 2024, and the rest is history.

Now his own career trajectory is starting to resemble the exact player he replaced.

Espinal spent years in the minors before becoming a regular in 2021, slashing .311 with a 115 wRC+ over 92 games, backed by strong defensive marks at third base. He earned an everyday role heading into 2022.

Clement, after beating out Espinal in 2024, hit .263 with 12 home runs across 452 plate appearances that year, with excellent defense at third. His 2025 season was even better, finishing with 22 DRS, 13 OAA, and 9 FRV across three infield spots.

That season is best remembered for his postseason, where he hit .411 with a home run in 77 plate appearances, setting the all-time MLB record with 30 postseason hits.

Why the post-All-Star split is so alarming

Clement's 2026 first half was genuinely strong, hitting .296 with 106 hits and 23 doubles before the break, ranking among the league's best hitting second basemen and earning his first All-Star selection.

Espinal followed an almost identical arc in 2022, hitting .271 with a 103 wRC+ before his own first and only All-Star trip.

The similarities get concerning after that point. Espinal hit just .258 with a 90 wRC+ over his final 138 plate appearances in 2022, then collapsed further in 2023, hitting .248 with negative defensive marks across the board.

Clement's second-half decline has been even steeper. Since July 17, he's hitting .209 with a 41 wRC+ over 230 plate appearances, chasing bad pitches and rolling over on contact despite a strong strikeout rate.

His defense has fallen off too, and earlier in the pattern than Espinal's did. Last season, no player in baseball posted a higher DRS than Clement's 22. This year, he sits at -2 DRS at short and negative marks at third as well, with Okamoto now entrenched at the hot corner.

There's real reason for hope, though. His first half provides genuine grace, and unlike Espinal, Clement carries the emotional weight of last year's World Series heartbreak, a near walk-off erased by a spectacular Andy Pages catch.

Add a shortened offseason, a WBC call-up with Team USA, and a career-high workload between the postseason run and this year's 153 games, and fatigue looks like a real contributing factor.

Clement's roster spot for 2027 isn't in danger. His role, though, is a real question, especially if Toronto looks outside the organization for help at second base, pushing him back toward the utility role he's always excelled in.