Jason Kipnis, 2B, Cleveland Indians
A slow start to 2018 for Jason Kipnis probably isn’t crazy to think about since his 2017 season wasn’t that great (82 wRC+ and 0.6 fWAR in 373 plate appearances). However, he did deal with injuries, a position change, and he looked really good during Spring Training.
Sure, we take those stats with a grain of salt, but he slashed .346/.424/.769 with 6 homers in just 52 at-bats. And with his past track record of success, it seemed as if he was primed to bounce back. Through 182 regular-season plate appearances, the second baseman has mustered a 41 wRC+ and -0.4 fWAR thanks to a .174/.260/.255 triple slash and only 1 dinger.
While his 19.2% soft-hit rate is elevated, Kipnis has also seen his hard-hit rate jump up to 36.8%. It’s crazy to see that he only has that lone homer despite a 45.1% fly-ball rate. It’s equally crazy to see his 34.4% ground-ball rate and see his BABIP down at .220. One would have to imagine that some level of correction is coming soon.
About Matt Musico
Matt Musico currently manages Chin Music Baseball and contributes to The Sports Daily. His past work has been featured at numberFire, Yahoo! Sports and Bleacher Report. He’s also written a book about how to become a sports blogger. You can sign up for his email newsletter here.
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