Cleveland Indians: Jason Kipnis is the odd man out in 2018
By Jared Wolfe
How to fit Jason Kipnis in the lineup and on the field in 2018.
First, let’s start this idea of knowing the Cleveland Indians are going to be keeping Jason Kipnis next season. With possible trade idea, on this one assume he is staying.
One possible way is to platoon him in center field with Bradley Zimmer. I get it, Zimmer is a better fielder in most aspects, but without a doubt, Kipnis is the better hitter. I am not saying get rid of Zimmer, there is a lot of upsides, but last season Zimmer was worse the Kipnis in his worst season of career.
Bradley Zimmer last season had only eight home runs and 39 Runs Batted In a previous season in 332 Plate Appearances. Good for according to Predator Baseball Stats, a -3.13 PRI and a -0.47 PWAA, while Kipnis was -2.73 PRI and -0.41 PWAA in 373 Plate Appearances.
Personally, I am not a believer in fielding stats because I believe they are arbitrary to the eye, even with a statist. Most would say Zimmer is a better fielder than Kipnis and by watching that is probably true. But, how many runs does his fielding add compared to his lack of fielding, who knows? What I do know, is if you hit, you play. Do not give up on Zimmer by any means with him being 25 years old, but Kipnis may be the better answer.
Another solution, which I mentioned at the beginning of the article is having the injury-prone Brantley move to first base and shift Kipnis over to left field. This may be a more out of the picture view as the Indians by all reports are active in the market for a first baseman, but this could be a fallback option if the deals fall through.
The final option I will propose comes in the form of moving Jose Ramirez back to third base and Kipnis again to second base.
This in effect, would remove Diaz from the lineup who the Indians are high on.
In 2017, Yandy Diaz finished with 179 Plate Appearances, and only nine extra-base hits alongside 0 home runs.
He is 25 years old with strong upside, but is he ready for an opening day role at third base? It could be a better fit to move Kipnis back to second base and Ramirez to third to start the year.
All and all, Kipnis will most likely fill all these options in 2018 as the year goes. He seems to be the filler when guys go down with his high versatility, but these are just some ideas moving forward.