Six seasons ago, he made the American League All-Star team for the second time. Five seasons ago, he hit a three-run homer in the World Series.
Now, Jason Kipnis is battling for a berth on the Braves’ bench.
“You know what, it’s just part of the gig,” Kipnis said Tuesday. “It’s a position I put myself into by probably not playing up to my level that I know I can the last couple of years.”
The Cleveland Indians’ starting second baseman for most of the 2012-19 seasons, an All-Star in 2013 and 2015, Kipnis finds himself in a crowded competition for spots on the Braves’ opening-day roster. He joins two other former All-Stars, Jake Lamb and Pablo Sandoval, and two versatile players, Johan Camargo and Ehire Adrianza, in the battle for perhaps three jobs as backup infielders.
Kipnis is 5-for-19 (.263) in exhibition games through Tuesday, and he believes his swing has improved markedly since early in camp. “Please erase the first week of my at-bats out of your memory,” he said, “because I already have, too.” In an exhibition game Sunday, both Kipnis and Adrianza hit home runs.
“It seems like there’s guys who I’m competing with that are having good games every day,” Kipnis said. “I mean, these guys are competing. Sometimes, when you hear people are competing for spots, you have a good guess who (the winner) might be, regardless of stats in spring. Right now, it just doesn’t feel like anyone knows.”
“We’re just going to keep running them out there and evaluate at the end (of spring training),” manager Brian Snitker said Tuesday. “I’m sure it’s going to make for some tough decisions in a couple of weeks.”
Kipnis, a left-hander hitter who will turn 34 on April 3, once was so highly regarded that the Indians signed him to a six-year, $52.5 million contract before the 2014 season. He signed a minor-league contract with the Braves as a free agent in February.
In his best seasons, he hit .284 with 17 home runs, 84 RBIs and an .818 OPS in 2013 and .303 with nine homers, 52 RBIs and an .823 OPS in 2015. A career highlight for Kipnis, who grew up in a suburb of Chicago, came in Game 4 of the 2016 World Series, when he hit a three-run homer against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
He had played his entire big-league career with Cleveland before joining the Cubs last year, hitting .237 with a .744 OPS in 44 games (38 starts) during the shortened 60-game season. He has played exclusively at second base with the exception of 25 games in center field (2017-18) and one at first base (2020).
Compared with his years with Cleveland, when he would go to spring training assured of a starting job, Kipnis knows every at-bat this spring could weigh into whether he makes the Braves’ opening-day roster.
“When I was in Cleveland, I could spend spring training more likely than not just getting ready for the season … not really worried about stats at all in the spring,” he said. “Now, not only am I trying to get ready for a season, I’m also competing for a spot.”
It’s important to make the most of every at-bat, he said, even the outs. Giving away at-bats “doesn’t help anyone,” he said. “It doesn’t help them make a decision for me. It doesn’t help my case or anything like that. You need to get ready faster, basically. Instead of just trying to time it and pace it for opening day, I need to start seeing some results sooner.”
