Cleveland Indians: Top Five Second Basemen of All-Time

Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

#5: Jason Kipnis

To begin our journey, we look at Jason Kipnis. Kipnis, 28, is the Cleveland Indians current second baseman. He has played in parts of five seasons with the Tribe, and has accumulated an impressive 14.6 wins above a replacement player, as measured by FanGraphs, in that time. While that sum ranks as only seventh on the all-time list, many of the players who rank above him have played substantially more games. If we sorted that list into WAR per 162 games, Kipnis would rank sixth.

The left-handed batter’s most impressive season came just last year. He batted an impressive .303 across 141 games. Combining his newfound line-drive prowess with his speed led to an increase in doubles and triples. All in all, weighted runs created plus valued his 2015 as 26 percent better than average, and FanGraphs valued him as 5.2 wins better than a replacement player.

Should Kipnis continue to play at an all-star level, he could very easily move up into the top three on this list. For this reason, it may almost be too soon to rate him as just the fifth best second baseman of all-time when he still has at least four more seasons on his contract. Of course there is always the possibility of a regression, an injury, or a trade.

Next on our list is a player from back in the 1950s…

Next: Number Four...