Indians: Jason Kipnis Underrated In A Boom Era Of 2nd Basemen?

Jason Kipnis doesn’t get the attention he deserves because he’s playing in a boom era of second baseman. That doesn’t mean Kipnis isn’t a vastly superior player.

Much of the attention paid to the Indians infield goes to Francisco Lindor. Rightly so, Lindor is an elite player at the position and is likely to be a perennial All-Star, MVP candidate, and Gold Glove winner.

Jose Ramirez got a lot of love in 2016 for his breakout year and clutch hitting. Edwin Encarnacion will be in the spotlight as the marquee free agent signing of the off season. But what about Jason Kipnis? Maybe Cleveland fans have a lot of love for the second baseman, but he might be overlooked outside of Northeast Ohio.

Did you know that Kipnis has been a 3.9 WAR or better player every year as a regular since he broke into the league except for his injury plagued 2014 campaign? Since becoming the every day second baseman, Kipnis has logged the following WAR:

2012: 3.9

2013: 5.7

2014: 0.7

2015: 4.6

2016: 4.1

Those numbers are not a fluke. In both 2013 and 2015, Kipnis earned MVP votes and made the All-Star game. His .303 batting average in 2015 was 7th in the AL overall as was his .372 on base percentage. He’s also finished in the top ten twice in stolen bases (2012 and 2013), even though he hasn’t been asked to run as often the last couple of seasons. Regardless, he’s also been in the top ten in stolen base percentage twice as well, in 2014 and 2016, showing that he can still steal bases among the best of them when called upon.

Before Kipnis became a starter, the Indians had a revolving door of second baseman

2011: Orlando Cabrera

2010: Luis Valbuena and Jason Donald

2009: Luis Valbuena / Jamey Carroll

2008: Asdrubal Cabrera

2007: Josh Barfield

Needless to say, Kipnis has been a major upgrade here. I will admit that Asdrubal Cabrera has had a very good career and was a very good player for the Tribe, but he moved to short for most of his career.

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What’s keeping Kipnis from being appreciated outside of Cleveland is the sudden boom in productive second baseman. In 2016, second baseman outpaced left fielders in just about every offensive category.

The likes of Jose Altuve and Robinson Cano are no longer exceptions. Brian Dozier, Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, and Rougned Odor are now the type of second baseman teams are deploying as a greater emphasis in the outfield has been placed on range and defensive value. There’s a reason why the platoon approach is so often seen in the outfield corners and not in the infield.

Of all second baseman that qualified, there were 21 players in the American League alone that produced a season with a positive WAR. There aren’t 21 teams in the AL, showing the relative depth of the position overall across the league. For example, his 23 home runs were a club record for the position, but were only good for seventh in the American League. Seventh! K

Kipnis’ 82 RBI are great in any year, but that mark was only the 6th best in the AL and tied with Jonathan Schoop, who was not a full time second baseman until a little later in the year.

So Kipnis isn’t the top second baseman, statistically, in the league. That’s not to say he isn’t supremely valuable. His production is All-Star worthy and his all-around game, including the power potential, is absolutely a great fit for this roster. How many times have we seen Kipnis bounce a double off of the left field wall with ease? How many times has he crushed a mistake early in the game into the right field Corner Bar? He does all of this on a deal that has him signed through 2020 at an average annual value of $8.75 million. For comparison’s sake, Robinson Cano is signed to a contract that pays him an average of $24 million per season through his age 41 season in 2023.

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At the end of the day, Kipnis is exactly the type of player this team and this city love. He works hard, he produces when healthy, and he genuinely enjoys playing the game. He just happenns to be doing it while playing at an All-Star level. So while Lindor and Encarnacion are the certified national stars, Jason Kipnis deserves the accolades as well.

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