OK. This isn’t going to much a post, but it’s something I thought everyone would like to see. Dodgers (near All-Star) outfielder Yasiel Puig has dominated the conversation for much of past month and a half. And, well, rightfully so.
Since his first game on June 3, the Dodgers have gone 23- 15, climbing from the basement of a weak NL West to second place. He’s been a breath of fresh air for Los Angeles and their near-quarter-billion dollar payroll. But Cleveland has their own version of Puig: second baseman Jason Kipnis.
Just look at the numbers over their last 38 games:
- Yasiel Puig: .391/.422/.616 with eight doubles, one triple, eight homeruns and five stolen bases in eight attempts
- Jason Kipnis: .381/.473/.597 with 12 doubles, one triple, five homeruns and 11 stolen bases in 12 attempts.
Kipnis, believe it or not, has actually been the better player. His 51 points in on-base percentage outweighs Puig’s 19 points in slugging. Kipnis also sports the better strikeout-to-walk ratio (33/26 vs. 36/7). Plus, the Tribe second baseman has been the far better base runner too. Oh, yeah, there’s that whole position variable too.
Ladies and gentlemen, Jason Kipnis.
This what I was attempting to yell at the Columbus sports radio guys when they talk about stupid Yasiel Puig
If Brandon Phillips received a 6 year/$72.5 mill contract, and the Red Sox
have been rumored to offer a $100 mill contract to Dustin Pedroia, I have a bad feeling the chances of the Tribe signing Kipnis to an extension are getting slimmer and slimmer.