Major League Baseball

Indians disappointed Kipnis not an All-Star

Published Jul. 2, 2012 11:46 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Jason Kipnis didn't want to talk about not making the All-Star team. He made a fashion statement instead.

Cleveland's second baseman wore a light blue ''I Play For The American League'' T-shirt in the clubhouse before Monday's game, a sarcastic, sartorial protest after being left off the AL roster for next week's game in Kansas City. Kipnis finished behind Robinson Cano in the fan voting and was beaten out by Ian Kinsler in player balloting.

Kipnis has had a first half worth of selection.

He entered Monday's game against Los Angeles batting .275 with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs. He's also got three triples, 20 steals, scored 47 runs and the 25-year-old has played exceptional defense in his first full major league season.

Indians manager Manny Acta said he wasn't ''completely surprised'' by Kipnis' snub.

''You can only have so many guys and the American League has some outstanding second basemen, but you usually just go by numbers and he (Kipnis) has the numbers to be in the All-Star game. Cano and Kinsler also have the numbers to be in the All-Star game and (Dustin) Pedroia. A lot of things have to do with the voting as we know.''

Kipnis declined comment when he was asked about the All-Star game.

Acta understands someone will always be left out, and that there are plenty of deserving players who won't try to help the AL win home-field advantage in the World Series. He's just sorry it had to be his second baseman.

''He's not the only one,'' Acta said. ''It's easy for us to be biased because we see him on an everyday basis and we want him to be in there bad, but if you look around the league there are some guys who also must feel that they have been snubbed. We let him know, he's our All-Star in our hearts and he's going to have an opportunity again because he's going to be good for years to come.

''But I really wanted to see him over there.''

The Indians have two All-Stars: closer Chris Perez and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, who both made the squad for the second straight year.

Acta said a case could be made for reliever Vinnie Pestano to be an All-Star. Cleveland's setup man has a 1.97 ERA in 34 games, and he's tied for the major league lead with 19 holds. The Indians are 28-6 in games he has appeared in and he's arguably the biggest reason Perez leads the majors with 23 saves.

Acta said it's easy for a pitcher like Pestano to be overlooked.

''In order for them to make it, a lot depends on their peers and some of those guys get the benefit of the doubt when they play on a big-market team,'' he said. ''We've seen some of those cases, but they picked five starters and three relievers and when you get to pick the relievers, people usually go for the three top closers. That's what happened and that's how guys like Vinnie fall through the cracks.

''He's another guy who I would really to see be there and he pitched like an All-Star, too. But hey, you can go to 29 other press conferences and the other managers will be complaining about it.''

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball