The Great Jason Kipnis

We have spent the whole day looking back at Jason Kipnis‘ past few years, but since he is an All-Star in 2015, it is about time we looked into what he is doing right now.

The primary reason there was so much internet outrage over Omar Infante leading the second base vote for so long was twofold. First, Infante has literally been the second worst regular starting second baseman in all of baseball (-0.3 WAR) ahead of just the Diamondbacks Chris Owings, making him the worst in the American League. The second half was that not only is Kipnis the best second baseman in all of baseball (by 1.4 WAR over Joe Panik of the Giants and 1.5 over Brian Dozier in the AL), but he has been the third best hitter overall behind just Bryce Harper of the Nationals and Mike Trout of the Angels.

Despite being the second best overall player in the AL, Kipnis still didn’t win the starting job (that went to Jose Altuve), but hopefully Ned Yost will do the right thing and get Kipnis into the game within the first three innings. The chart below shows his ranks in some basic stats among all Major League players, the American League, AL second basemen and the Indians.

In addition to being the best hitter on the Indians by far, Kipnis was obviously the best second baseman in the AL, although the funniest thing about the situation is that the second best, Brian Dozier, wouldn’t even have made the All-Star team if not for an injury to Jose Bautista. In the American League, things are much closer with Mike Trout leading in WAR, but Kipnis is still second in hits and at bats and first in doubles. This should place him high among the AL MVP candidates, similarly to how Jose Altuve got some votes in 2014. With Miguel Cabrera likely out long enough to disqualify him for the award, Kipnis will have a lot less competition in a couple months when the real MVP talk starts.

Even including the NL, Kipnis remains on the top of the leader boards. Only Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer surpass him in WAR and even in his least impressive number, his power hitting, he still ranks 33rd thanks to his league leading 27 doubles (tied with Yoenis Cespedes).

On a more historical level, Kipnis already ranks 31st in Indians history in single season doubles by a second baseman and is on pace to reach the top 10 at any position in that category by reaching that monumental 50 double mark. If he can continue his pace of hitting, he will also be just the second person since 2001 to bat above .320 (Michael Brantley did this last year) and one of just 11 since 1955, six of which came between 1999 and 2001.

Kipnis broke into the Burning River Baseball All-Time Second Basemen Rankings (which are updated annually in October) last year at number at number nine and he already looks worthy of further advancement this Fall. His .272/.349/.413 line is already superior to Hall of Famer Joe Gordon and 1920 World Series champion Bill Wambsganss, while Johnny Hodapp, Odell Hale and Bobby Avila could never match Kipnis, even with his limited power. In steals, only three of the greats (Napoleon LaJoie, Roberto Alomar and Wambsganss) surpass Kipnis’ 98 and among all Indians second basemen, only Alomar surpasses him in success rate (87% to 82%) since times caught stealing were counted as a stat.

If Kipnis retired today, he would move into seventh on my list and if he finishes out his contract and option, he could end up as high as number two. He currently has played the tenth most games among Indians second baseman and by the end of 2020, he could have played in over 1,300 games, second only to the great Hall of Famer, LaJoie. The Indians haven’t had many great second basemen and this has allowed Kipnis to be considered among the greats in just five years.

Many things could happen before then including injuries, like the one that cost him much of his ability in 2014, trades or a fall off in ability, but at the moment, we can enjoy the ride and watch one of the best baseball players ever to claim the area between first and second. He has already had a longer career in Cleveland than Alomar and will surpass Gordon within two weeks after All-Star break. This season has been his best so far and hopefully he will continue it through the rest of 2015 and at least the next five years as well.