Jason Kipnis’ turnaround at the plate
Before making a swing adjustment Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis was in the midst of a disappointing season. However thanks to a rolled up magazine in a Kansas City hotel room things are changing for the better.
From March 29 through August 25th Jason Kipnis put together a lackluster slash line. Slashing .216/.305/.345 with an OPS of .650. Kipnis did accumulate some respectable counting stats. Stats including 21 doubles, 11 home runs, 49 RBI and 51 walks. While these numbers are nice there were areas of concern. Mainly 93 strikeouts and grounding into four double plays.
The main concern with Kipnis was coming up short in key situations. The way Kipnis was struggling on the plate was putting him on a fast track for one of his worst seasons in that regard. While it is rather unlikely that he would eclipse his most (146) and second-most (143) strikeouts, third seemed almost to be guaranteed to happen. Currently Kipnis’ third-most strikeouts in a season is 109 from his first full season in Cleveland (2012).
Jason Kipnis made a change and it is paying dividends
According to a story from Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, Jason Kipnis reportedly made a swing adjustment in Kansas City on the last road trip. Using a rolled up magazine Kipnis compared his current swing to his swing from his 2016 campaign. Finding something that was clearly inconsistent, Kipnis made a change. A change for the better.
Since the last night in Kansas City Kipnis is slashing .424/.444/.818 with an OPS of 1.263. This includes three home runs, four doubles and 11 runs batted in. One home run was of the inside-the-park variety but it counts nonetheless. While these numbers are unsustainable they are quite impressive.
After the acquisition of Josh Donaldson Kipnis will be fighting for playing time. With how well his performance has improved it will be difficult to keep him out of the lineup. Kipnis can certainly play in center field, second base and even DH if necessary. As long as Kipnis continues his hot hitting, having him in the lineup will pay dividends. No longer does the Indians lineup hit a lull at the bottom of the order. Kipnis is driving in runs and getting on base.
If this turnaround is short lived there is an easy solution, send Kipnis to the bench. However if it is here for the long haul, Kipnis will certainly provide valuable at-bats in October.
