Numbers show Kipnis could be money in ALDS

Jason Kipnis, supposedly the odd man out when the Indians acquired third baseman Josh Donaldson from the Blue Jays at the trading deadline, instead will have the chance to be a playoff hero for the Tribe.

That’s what makes October baseball so special.

The Donaldson trade, made Aug. 31, meant Jose Ramirez would take over second base, the position Kipnis played for five months. That left Manager Terry Francona with a decision to make: Stay with Greg Allen in center field, or replace Allen with Kipnis, who was hitting .228 as a second basemen.

Francona chose Kipnis, who in 14 games after the switch batted .261 with three doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI.

“Come October, nobody’s going to care what your average was during the season,” Francona said Oct. 2 at Progressive Field. “It’s what you do in October. Knowing Kip, when the lights shine the brightest, he wants to compete. I think he’s excited. I think he’s in a good place.

“He’s got his RBI. He’s got his home runs. His batting average took a hit. The saving grace to that is he’s hit with runners in scoring position, which is the most important thing. And I think he’s done fine in center field.”

Kipnis homered 18 times and drove in 75 runs in 147 games this season. By comparison, he homered 23 times and drove in 82 runs in 156 games in 2016. He hit .275 that season. His overall batting average dipped to .230 in 2018, but his clutch stats are impressive; he hit .304 and drove in 24 runs with runners in scoring position and two outs. He had 26 RBI when the Indians were within one run of the lead.

In other words, choosing between Kipnis and Allen really wasn’t a difficult decision for Francona.

“I just think for us to be the team we wanted to be, running away from Kip didn’t help,” Francona said. “Sometimes you need to be patient because you need guys to play. And it’s too easy to run. Same thing with Cody Allen; he’s had some ups and downs this year. It’s going to be hard for us to get where we’re going without him.”

Like just about everyone else in the lineup in the 2017 ALDS with the New York Yankees, Kipnis stood at home plate holding an icicle instead of a bat. He had four hits in 22 at-bats (.182) and drove in one run.

Kipnis thinks things will be different this time when the Indians begin their best-of-five series ALDS with the Astros on Oct. 5 in Houston. Adding Donaldson to bat fifth pushes first baseman Yonder Alonso to sixth and makes the bottom third of the order — Melky Cabrera, Kipnis and Yan Gomes — stronger.

This is the third straight playoff appearance for the Tribe. Experience should count for something as the Indians try to break a 70-year-long drought without a World Series championship in Cleveland.

“When you get to playoff baseball, that’s all you really want to play anymore,” Kipnis said. “It’s not like you just walk through the regular season, but there’s less of a thrill to it just because you know what the games could feel like and I know a bunch of these guys have kind of been biting their tongues and waiting for these games, too.

“Now that we get so close, we have to tone it down a little bit. As much as you just want to run through a wall to get out there, it comes down to being a professional and how do you handle it because we’ve been there and it’s more than just emotions that’s going to get us through this.”

Kipnis could have been speaking for everyone in the Indians’ clubhouse with that remark.

FRED THORNHILL — CANADIAN PRESS Jason Kipnis is congratulated by teammates after his three-run home run against the Blue Jays during the ninth inning Sept. 6 in Toronto.