Cleveland Indians: Jason Kipnis looking to return to his old ways in 2018

 Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis is looking to rebound in 2018 after a 2017 season in which he dealt with injuries and position changes.

Seeing Jason Kipnis play center field in the 2016 ALDS was an odd sight, and Cleveland Indians fans are hoping it won’t happen again.

Some news dropped recently that Kipnis will move back to second base for the 2018 season, seemingly putting to rest some trade rumors that involved Kipnis earlier this offseason.

While this may anger some fans willing to move on from Kipnis, it is important to remember that he only appeared in 90 games in 2017 due to several stints on the disabled list.

His slash line of .232/.291/.414 is nothing to be happy about, but his career line of .268/.340/.422 shows that this was simply a down year for Kipnis.

If he has another bad season in 2018, then maybe it is time to move on. His value would be down, but some team out there may be looking to take a chance on the two-time All-Star.

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Getting back to second base on a regular basis should help Kipnis get back to his consistent ways, while an injury-free season would help him at the plate and not force him to readjust to major league pitching every few months after coming off the DL.

Kipnis, along with several other players, was rushed back toward the end of the season and may not have been at 100 percent for the postseason. He went 4-for-22 in the ALDS, although he wasn’t the only player to struggle.

It is important for fans to look at Kipnis’ career averages and see 2017 as an unfortunate down year. Injuries and position changes didn’t help, and perhaps a full season would have still produced the same numbers. But I don’t see it as some sign of major decline.

He is going to be 31 years old this season and still has plenty of great baseball ahead of him. And while he isn’t the best second baseman, he is nowhere near as bad as some fans think. His salary may frustrate some fans, but it certainly counters the whole “Dolans are cheap” narrative.

Next: How the starting catcher role could play out in 2018

No one should be directing any ill will toward Kipnis if he gets off to a slow start. According to his career numbers, he is poised for a nice year in 2018.