Major League Baseball

Indians' Kipnis learning a few things in challenging season

Published Sep. 10, 2014 7:57 p.m. ET

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CLEVELAND — To say that this has been a frustrating season for Cleveland second baseman Jason Kipnis would be an understatement. After agreeing to a six-year, $52.5 million extension right before the Indians' home opener, the rest of the year has gone downhill.

After batting .284 and leading the team in RBI last season, Kipnis is batting .248 with 41 RBI.

"Judging by the two seasons if I had to take my pick I'd take the minimum and be hitting well and helping this team over more money and struggling," Kipnis said on Wednesday before the Indians-Twins game was postponed. "It's just a frustrating game and tests your confidence and makes you question your abilities but one of the biggest things about this game is keeping the part above your shoulders the right way and having confidence. I'd rather have the feeling of hitting a double then being paid like I hit a double."

Kipnis was hitting .234 when he suffered an oblique injury in late April. Even when he returned in late May, he hasn't been able to drive the ball to left-center like he did last season. After becoming the sixth player in team history last year to have 15 or more homers and 30 or more stolen bases in a season, Kipnis has only six homers this season and hasn't had one since July 31 against Seattle.

When asked if the oblique is still bothering him, Kipnis said that it wasn't an excuse for the season that he's had. If anything, it has been trying to prove that the Indians were right in giving him an extension.

"I might have taken it the wrong way. There is one of two ways to go about it. Either you have the security and now go out and play freely, but I took the way where I got the money and have to live up to it," he said. "I might have pressed early. In hindsight, (it) could have hurt me. The season has been a nice little learning curve."

Kipnis' season though in many ways has mirrored the Tribe's offense. The Indians are seventh in the American League with a .255 batting average but have scored three or fewer runs in half of the games.

The one area where Kipnis has learned is not to show his frustration that easily. Before the All-Star Break, there were T-shirts being worn in the Indians clubhouse touting the JK Construction Company, whose motto is "I break it, you fix it." The bright orange T-shirts made light of Kipnis' penchant for breaking things — like fans and air conditioners — during slumps or a 0-for-4 night.

Kipnis said that he hasn't had an outburst for over a month and that the shirts did bring some things more into focus.

"I've seen it before when a teammate slams a helmet and it looks and sounds terrible. If it gets repetitive it becomes a problem," Kipnis said. "You don't see me sprint right down to the bat rack. I've been getting compliments from teammates."

Kipnis is 8 for 31 on the homestand and has a four-game hitting streak going into Thursday's doubleheader against the Twins. Manager Terry Francona is hoping that Kipnis can get hot down the stretch.

"Because of his ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark, hit extra-base hits and steal bases, if he can even put together a couple weeks like that, that'll oh boy," Francona said. "Him getting hot would be a huge help to us. And he's certainly showing signs of that."

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