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| Jason Kipnis (Photo: Lianna Holub) |
Editor's note: Jason Ruggiero is a new writer to the IPI and will be providing commentary and analysis pieces on the Indians and their upper level affiliates/prospects.
Seize your opportunity.
Seize your opportunity.
It’s fitting advice for many of us, but especially for an MLB prospect. It can be even better advice when talking about an All-Star game. We all know how these affairs typically go; the starters get one or two at-bats, and then the substitution carousel begins. When you have a chance to shine in the spotlight, you better seize that opportunity.
That’s exactly what Indians 2B prospect Jason Kipnis did in Sunday’s XM Futures Game.
Stepping in against Julio Teheran, a pitcher who has already made two starts for the Atlanta Braves this season and is 9-1 with a 1.79 ERA in AAA Gwinnett, Kipnis quickly got behind 0-2. Then he really started to impress. He worked the count well, fouled off several quality offerings, showed a solid batter's eye on a big curve for ball three, and finally homered to right, to put the U.S. team on the board. It was the kind of at-bat that would make any Indians fan smile.
But the bat has never really been in doubt for Kipnis, although it was good to see him seize this opportunity and turn in a big hit on a big stage. Defense has always been the question for the converted outfielder and Kipnis was never really challenged during the few innings he played in the field. It would have been interesting to see Kipnis attempt some of the nice plays Grant Green (another supposedly defense-challenged middle infielder, this time from the Oakland system) attempted during the sixth inning but it didn’t happen that way.
Kipnis was an early favorite to win the Futures Game MVP but was surpassed by Green later in the game. All in all, a very nice performance by Kipnis as he continues to knock on the door for his big league promotion.
Indians pitching prospect Drew Pomeranz did not fare quite as well when he came on in the sixth inning. As ESPN’s Gary Thorne put it, “He started out like gangbusters . . . but found the third out hard to come by.”
Pomeranz retired Yonder Alonso, who many view as an MLB-ready product from the Reds system, on three pitches. Next he faced Dayan Viciedo, who grounded weakly up the middle on the third pitch. Green, who had entered the game at second, in place of Kipnis, made a nice play on the ball but his throw in the dirt could not be dug out at first. This is the kind of play that is made at the MLB level. The ball was ruled a hit (probably since scorekeepers are wary of assigning errors in an All-Star game) but could have easily been an error in a regular season game. However, Green did make a very nice over-the-shoulder catch on another weakly hit ball from the next batter to get the second out.
This is when the wheels fell off for Pomeranz.
First, he gave up a two-run homer to Alfredo Silverio from the Dodgers organization. The home run was shocking for several reasons. It was just the third home run Pomeranz has given up this year. Pomeranz, to this point, had faced three batters, registering a strikeout and two weakly hit balls, only one of which (barely) left the infield. Pomeranz continued to struggle after the home run and he was eventually charged with four runs in only two-thirds of an inning, while giving up three runs and a walk.
Pomeranz’s outing was depressing, especially in light of his recent successes and promotion to Double-A Akron. As I said earlier, things seemed to be going well until he gave up the homer, struggled to get the third out and then got the hook from U.S. manager Mike Piazza. Hopefully Pomeranz can put this experience behind him and focus on his next opportunity, continuing his development in Akron.
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2 comments:
Now all I need is for Kipnis to get the call so he can help my fantasy team. I have to wonder what the Cleveland brass is waiting for; Orlando Cabrera to enter a late career renaissance?
While I am directly on board with Kipnis getting called up, they are holding him back because they want him with more seasoning in the field. While I don't disagree with that philosophy, I honestly don't like it. I've heard the "we don't want another Cord Phelps" analogy because of Phelps' defensive struggles when he was called up. Phelps isn't the offensive player that Kipnis is, and there does come a point when you just have to go with what you got.
While Kipnis' fielding percentage is better this year, then last, it's with nearly 300 less chances so far, so it's also not like his defense is improving by leaps and bounds (.962 last year, to .974 this year).
Something to think about...
In 2007, Cleveland brought up a promising middle infielder to play during a stretch run. That player was hitting above .300 in stints with Akron and Columbus, and came up to play second base. His fielding percentage in the minors was .960ish (mostly at short), and while a fantastic fielder, they believed his fielding and offense needed work. But...they needed a second baseman, so up he came. His name was Asdrubal Cabrera. He may have gotten the Indians into the playoffs with his early offensive surge...and if I recall, their August offense, minus Cabrera and a couple others...was horrid.
They called Cabrera up on August 8th. The Tribe is in first right now, so I don't think they are going to rush this...but this trade deadline could be interesting. I think, while many others don't, that Kipnis is coming up, just later than people want...
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