Saturday Spotlight: Jason Kipnis

Jason Kipnis plays second base for the Cleveland Indians. He was a 2nd round pick in 2009 and signed with the Indians on June 9, 2009. He spent three years in the minors until his debut on July 22, 2011. Since then he has a batting average of .272, 640 hits, 53 home runs, 272 RBIs, and 100 stolen bases. In his second full season as an Indian he made his first All-Star team. He had one at-bat and hit a double and picked up a RBI. The American League went on to win that game 3-0. He struggled a bit in 2014 due to injury but bounced back in 2015. Kipnis had a stellar 2015 finishing the season with a .303 batting average, 171 hits, 43 doubles, 52 RBIs, and an on base percentage (OBP) of .372. He also made his second All-Star team. He had one at bat and was unsuccessful and ended up striking out, but the AL still ended up winning 6-3. This season he finished second in the AL in doubles, fifth in AL second basemen in fielding percentage, and was seventh in the AL in batting average. He was AL player of the month for the month of May after having 51 hits and 30+ doubles that month alone. His projections for the 2016 season have him batting .275, 140 hits, 11 home runs, 32 doubles, 54 RBIs, and an OBP of .347. Kipnis is currently signed to a 6 year, $52.5 million contract trough 2019, and will become a free agent in 2020.