Cleveland Guardians

Kipnis to return to Indians' lineup against Yankees (Aug 06, 2017)

Published Aug. 6, 2017 1:24 a.m. ET

CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Indians welcome back second baseman Jason Kipnis to the lineup Sunday, when the Indians host the Yankees in the final game of their four-game series.

Prior to the game, Kipnis will be activated off the disabled list. He has been on the DL since July 9 with a strained right hamstring. Kipnis prepared for his return to the Indians' lineup by going 1-for-5 in a rehab appearance with Triple-A Columbus on Friday.

"He had to face a left-handed knuckleballer. I'm sure he was thrilled by that," said Indians manager Terry Francona.

Although Kipnis is back, so far he's having the worst season of his six-year major league career. In 254 at bats, he is hitting what would be a career-low .232, with eight home runs and 26 RBIs. This from a player who last year hit .275, with 23 home runs and 82 RBIs.

The return of Kipnis will likely mean a return of Jose Ramirez to third base, and the likely optioning of Giovanny Urshela to Triple-A Columbus. The versatile Ramirez is normally the Indians' third baseman, but he has gotten the bulk of the playing time at second while Kipnis has been on the DL.

Urshela has been sensational defensively at third base, but he continues to struggle offensively, hitting .220 with no home runs and two RBIs in 50 at bats.

"When you're not sure a guy will hit, knowing that he can catch the ball is huge. Especially when we value our pitchers the way we do," said Francona, who called Urshela an "elite defender."

While the Indians will welcome a player back from the disabled list on Sunday, the Yankees will be putting a player on the DL. Designated hitter Matt Holliday did not play in Saturday's game due to a sore back, which he tweaked during an at bat Friday night. Following Saturday's game, Manager Joe Girardi said the Yankees would "probably" put Holliday on the DL.

The Yankees will be going for a series split on Sunday. Cleveland won the first two games of the series, but the Yankees snapped a four-game losing streak by winning Saturday's game 2-1. Girardi is still concerned about the team's lack of offense. The Yankees have only scored five runs total in their last four games.

"We still have a long way to go (in the season), but we need to start winning," Girardi said.

Sunday's pitching matchup will be a pair of right-handers who are having good seasons, Cleveland's Carlos Carrasco (10-4, 3.89) vs. New York's Luis Severino (8-4, 2.98).

Although he is tied with Trevor Bauer for the team lead in wins, Carrasco is coming off his worst start of the season. In Cleveland's 12-10 loss to Boston on Aug. 1, Carrasco was knocked out of the game after just 1 2/3 innings. He threw 56 pitches and gave up five runs on six hits and three walks.

However, in nine starts prior to that disaster, Carrasco was very good, going 5-1 with a 3.86 ERA, while averaging 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

In two starts against the Yankees last year Carrasco was 0-2 with a 3.38 ERA. In 10 career appearances, eight starts, against New York, Carrasco is 4-4 with a 3.67 ERA.

Severino hasn't lost a game since July 2. In five starts since then he is 3-0 with a 1.36 ERA, a .203 opponents' batting average, with 39 strikeouts in 33 innings. In his last three starts Severino is 3-0 with a 0.47 ERA. In two career starts against Cleveland he is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA.