Day 2: Second Base

I struggled with the direction of where to go after Asdrubal Cabrera. I could take the "who should go first" route and have moved on to Shin Soo Choo or Chris Perez, but I decided to hit the infield before moving anywhere else. That naturally moves us to Cabrera's double play partner, Jason Kipnis. The best way for me to describe his year in a nutshell is, "Supernova." Burned brightly for a short period, then was gone.

Kipnis started the year a bit slow, but then caught fire in May/June. At one point, we were talking about this kid as a potential All-Star player. He had 11 home runs, a .277 batting average, and 20 stolen bases at the break. We were looking at a 20/20 guy from a spot where there is not traditionally a lot of production. It actually seemed ridiculous to think Kipnis WOULDN'T hit the 20/20 plateau. The Indians were in 2nd place in the AL Central and even though the pitching staff was underperforming, life was good.

Then the star fell to earth.

Since the All-Star break, Kipnis has hit a measly .203 and went the entire month of July without a home run. He's hit one in August. Granted, Kipnis going an entire month isn't the same as Jay Bruce (or someone who relies on power as a major part of his game) having a power outage, but that was just the beginning. His OBP dropped 70 points, his strikeout rate went up, and the whole 24 hits in 118 at-bats thing is no good either. Now I realize there are a lot of reasons for this; first full season in the MLB, improved advanced scouting reports from other teams around the league, or having to bat in the third spot in the order for a while. I've hung on to Kipnis on my fantasy team and I believe he is absolutely worth the Indians staying faithful to as well. I don't find it a coincidence though, that as Kipnis' production has dipped, so has the Tribe's.

Kipnis is a cornerstone of this team's future. I love his attitude, his grit, and the way he plays the game. I'm confident that we'll see a more consistent game from him in the future, and I'm sure glad we'll at least have Kipnis to lead us through the colossal struggle that will be the next few seasons. This is one of the few positions on the Indians that I don't feel there should be an upgrade, so the final verdict on Kipnis' future as an Indian: keep him.