2009 Indians 2nd Round Pick: OF/2B Jason Kipnis

With the 63rd overall selection in the 2009 MLB Draft, the Cleveland Indians select: OF/2B Jason Kipnis - Arizona State
6'0" 180 lbs.

UPDATE (11:15 PM EST): Official Release

The Cleveland Indians selected OF JASON KIPNIS with their 2nd round pick (63rd overall) in the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. The junior outfielder is currently batting .385 (85-221) with 71 runs scored, 20 doubles, 4 triples, 16HR and 71RBI in 59 games for Arizona State University, who will face the North Carolina Tarheels on Sunday in the College World Series. He also has a .496 on base percentage (48BB, 30K) and a .723 slugging percentage (1.291 OPS). The Northbrook, IL native was named the Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year and for the 2nd consecutive season to the Pac-10 First Team. Last year he was named the Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year after transferring from Kentucky. This marks the 2nd time Kipnis has been selected in the MLB draft as he was taken by the San Diego Padres in the 4th round (135th overall) in the 2008.

UPDATE (10:10 PM EST): Dennis Nosco
Here are some helpful links:
2009 Stats
Jason Kipnis interview
Baseball America early season article
Also, worth noting that Kipnis will be playing White on Sunday!

Commentary: Interesting, interesting pick. Obviously the Indians were looking at him as a second round pick which is great, meaning they got their guy. Sooooo, the only question is will they try to move him to second base or have they learned their lesson with Crowe? I like Kipnis as a secondbaseman. As an outfielder, I see him as Ben Francisco with more power and better plate discipline. Will that be good enough to make him more than a 4th outfielder? I don't know, but I like the pick as we got value at this point as Baseball America rated Kipnis as their 61st best prospect and the Arizona State people were hearing supplemental first round or early second round with him.

UPDATE (10:09 PM EST): Jeff Ellis, information courtesy of Keith Law
In retrospect Jason Kipnis made a wise decision to go back to school and raise his draft value. He has great bat speed and is strong enough to hit for power, but there is a concern that he has a grooved swing with no load and a soft front side, which in turn leads to a lot of swings and misses. He has a great eye, works counts, and isn’t afraid of hitting with 2 strikes, though he doesn’t change his approach at all when he does have 2 strikes. The big question on Kipnis is position. He’s an average runner who is at best 50/50 to even stay in center, but may not have the power to play corner outfield. Some clubs have though of returning him to second base, where he played in high school, but his body is different and moves to high- skill positions rarely work. He was kicked off Kentucky and had to transfer after his freshman year, so there are lingering questions about make up. Though it should be noted he had zero problems since he moved to Tempe.

UPDATE (10:05 PM EST): MLB.com Player Page

UPDATE (10:02 PM EST): Jeff Ellis
For those who didn’t watch the draft, in the second round each pick was made by a dignitary from each team. The Indians dignitary was the great Jason Bere, I kid you you not. For this pick the Indians selected Jason Kipnis, who had been rumored as a possible first round pick for the tribe. Last year as a draft eligible sophomore he was a 4^th rounder of the Padres, and made the wise decision to go back to school and go higher. He is a 6’0” OF, who rumor says the Indians might be moving to second base. He was ranked 60^th by Keith Law and 61^st by Baseball America, so was a solid value with pick number 63. Kipnis has good bat speed and generates some power. He led a very good ASU team in average, OBP, SLG, and stolen bases. He’s a patient hitter who has a bit of a line drive swing. He projects to be an average MLB player in every category except plate discipline and defense. His plate discipline is his only plus skill. The issue with his defense is he doesn’t have the range for centerfield, and might not hit enough for a corner OF. This has lead to the talk that he might end up at 2B where his bat would profile a lot better with the position. He played second base in high school, which is why teams think he could move back. One red flag is he was kicked off Kentucky after his freshman year, so there have been make up concerns. Reading reports of him reminded me a lot of the reports I read on Federoff this time last year.

UPDATE (10:00 PM EST): Arizona State Player Page

More information when available.

Posted in: Jason Kipnis