During his first professional season last year, and over the first month of the 2006 season, opposing pitchers at both Single-A and Double-A found keeping Jeff Clement in check a difficult task.
About the only thing to slow down this 6-1, 215-pound future catching star, since he set the national high-school home run career record with his 71st in 2002, has been injury.
The No. 3 overall selection from the University of Southern California (USC) in the 2005 June Draft, Clement underwent surgery May 6 to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and to remove bone chips from his left elbow.
By the time Clement was healthy in late June, the Mariners decided it was time to move him up to Triple-A Tacoma.
With Kenji Johjima one of the Major's most productive catchers this season and still under contract with the Mariners for the next two years, there is no rush to bring up the native of Marshalltown, Ia.
Clement could be a September call-up this year, however, and just might force the Mariners' to rethink their catching situation as early as next year if he regains some of the offensive consistency he showed in his earlier minor league stops.
Since coming back from injury, Clement has struggled to a .232 average with three home runs and 18 RBI in 29 games with Tacoma -- but this should be just a minor glitch considering his previous numbers.
Last season with Wisconsin, Clement hit .319 with 6 home runs and 20 RBI in 113 at bats. This season with San Antonio, he hit .288 with 2 home runs and 10 RBI in 59 at bats.
Clement won the Johnny Bench Award as a college junior as the nation's top catcher and finished second on the Trojans' all-time home-run list with 46.
We think that given his health status and production to mid-season, it will be sometime in 2007 when he will have the opportunity to outshine on the depth chart. He debuts in the MLN FAB50 Baseball 2006 at No. 36.
- Jarrod ULREY
