Jason Kipnis, Cleveland Indians
While Jason Kipnis technically could stay in Cleveland beyond this year via club option, there’s almost no way that’ll happen. The Indians have unsuccessfully been trying to dump his contract for a while, so it’d be surprising if they commit to pay the veteran second baseman $16.5 million in 2020.
With that in mind, his focus should be getting his offense back on track. He was worth 2.1 fWAR in 2018, but it was mostly thanks to an uptick in defense. At the plate, Kipnis did slug 18 homers (second-best single-season total), but his wRC+ settled in at below 90 (89, to be exact) for the second straight year.
What’s noticeable during this stretch is a huge drop in BABIP (.256 in ’17, .258 in ’18), especially when compared to how that number looked in one of his best offensive years (.324 BABIP in ’16). When looking at his batted-ball profile, it’s not hard to see where the changes have taken place.
Kipnis has typically been more of a line-drive hitter in his career. This shift to more fly balls has also brought a rise in pop ups (IFFB%), which certainly doesn’t help. If he wants more than minor-league offers in this upcoming offseason, his bat needs to show some life again.
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