Welcome back to the 2015 Last Word on Fantasy Baseball Guide. Over the next several months we will be releasing player profiles, projections, position rankings, and a number of other articles that will help you dominate your fantasy league this season. Whether you play rotisserie or head-to-head; whether you have a standard draft, a snake or an auction league, and whether its keeper league or a one-year deal; we have all the fantasy information you need.
For the rest of our fantasy baseball profiles and articles, please check out our Fantasy Baseball Guide Page.
Fantasy Profile: Jason Kipnis, 2B, Cleveland Indians
Pos. Rank: 6, Captains Values $13.76
Was 2013 just an outlier year for Jason Kipnis? It’s still much too early to tell, but I can say it was partially fueled by a .345 BABIP. Not to mention the oblique injury which may have sapped most of his power (.394 slugging before and .315 after injury).
Kipnis, while he may never be the 25+ home run guy we had hoped for, I do think he can constantly steal 20+ bases. Kipnis does seem like a decent bounce back candidate coming into 2015.
One reason his play was mediocre in 2014 was his play versus southpaws. He saw his average versus lefties in 2013 (.308 in 198 at-bats) drop compared to 2014 (.208 in 168 at-bats). He also couldn’t hit breaking balls as well in 2014 against lefties (.226 in 2013 VS. Sliders and Curves, dropped to .160 in 2014). Kipnis also had issues swinging at pitches outside of the zone. According to FanGraphs.com he swung at pitches outside of the zone 21.6% in 2013 and 25.8% in 2014.
So why do I think he could bounce back? Well, according to FanGraphs.com his contact % went up from 81.7% to 82.7%, so you could point to him actually being unlucky. And like I mentioned before, the oblique injury could have effected him even after he returned. Kipnis is only 27, and has the ability to bounce back.
| Year | Team | Pos | G | PA | AB | R | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | SLG | OBP | OPS |
| 2011 | CLE | 2B | 36 | 150 | 136 | 24 | 7 | 19 | 5 | 11 | 34 | 0.272 | 0.507 | 0.333 | 0.840 |
| 2012 | CLE | 2B | 152 | 669 | 591 | 86 | 14 | 76 | 31 | 67 | 109 | 0.257 | 0.379 | 0.335 | 0.714 |
| 2013 | CLE | 2B | 149 | 653 | 564 | 86 | 17 | 84 | 30 | 76 | 143 | 0.284 | 0.452 | 0.366 | 0.818 |
| 2014 | CLE | 2B | 129 | 554 | 500 | 61 | 6 | 41 | 22 | 50 | 100 | 0.240 | 0.330 | 0.310 | 0.640 |
| 2015 Projection | CLE | 2B | 660 | 582 | 82 | 14 | 71 | 29 | 68 | 124 | 0.265 | 0.342 | 0.397 | 0.739 |
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Jun 18, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis (22) celebrates his RBI-double in the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
