Cleveland Indians: Who will step up with Jason Kipnis out?

As Jason Kipnis works to get healthy and back in the Cleveland Indians lineup, who can step up and produce on offense in his absence?

As the Cleveland Indians get set to begin the 2017 season, they do so without second baseman Jason Kipnis.

The mainstay-middle infielder has landed himself on the DL to start the season, after injuring his shoulder during spring training. Kipnis is one of the best second basemen in all of baseball, and he has left a big offensive hole to be filled.

Kipnis, who spent most of last year hitting second in the order, hit .275 with 23 homers and 82 RBI. The Indians are going to be reliant on starting pitching throughout the year, as they expect to have a chance to win every night, but offense could be an issue while Kipnis is out. Where can the Indians find that production while Kipnis recovers?

Let’s start with his replacement from a defensive standpoint. The Tribe’s primary third baseman in 2016, Jose Ramirez, is a solid utility man who will have no problem filling in for Kipnis defensively. Offensively, Ramirez hit .312 with 76 RBI in 2016.

Ramirez was in the lineup last year, though. He played in 152 games. Who is replacing Kipnis’ offensive numbers? That would be Yandy Diaz, who, for the time being, will take over at third base.

In spring training, Diaz hit a remarkable .458 (22 for 48). Among those 22 hits were two home runs, while he drove in 15 runs. In 2016, Diaz’s combined numbers in Double-A and Triple-A had him hitting .318 with a .408 on-base percentage.

What’s missing for Diaz is power. He only has 18 home runs combined in his three seasons in the minor leagues, but he still has time to develop his power game, as he’s only 25 years old.

The Indians obviously think that Diaz is ready to produce at big league-level. They wouldn’t put him on the Opening Day roster if they didn’t think that he would produce. They also wouldn’t do it if they weren’t going to have him play every day, so he will have plenty of chances to prove himself.

What if Diaz doesn’t hit? How will they provide offense with Kipnis on the DL, especially if Kipnis takes longer than expected to return? Edwin Encarnacion.

Encarnacion was one of the biggest free agent signings of the offseason. Encarnacion is 34 years old and entering the 13th year of his career. The 2017 season will be the first year of a 3-year/$60 million contract that he signed with Indians.

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That’s a big contract and Encarnacion earned it. In 2016 with the Toronto Blue Jays, Encarnacion set career-highs with 42 home runs and 127 RBI. He also had one of the biggest moments of the 2016 postseason, a three-run walk-off home run off Ubaldo Jimenez of the Baltimore Orioles to win the AL Wild Card game and send Toronto to the Division Series.

It’s not just one year that Encarnacion is building off. In the past five years, Encarnacion hasn’t hit less than 34 home runs. Twice in that time, he hit over 40 home runs. In that same time frame, Encarnacion had over 100 RBI in all but one of those years.

Considering the home run and RBI numbers, his .263 average is more than passable. His biggest problem is his strikeout totals. He’s always had trouble with them, but not to the extent of a lot of guys playing today. However, in 2016, his strikeout total ballooned up to 138, after eclipsing 100 only once in the previous 11 years.

Next: Previewing the starting rotation

The Indians already know that pitching is going to be key for them and they will be put to the test immediately with Kipnis out. If they’re going to get off to a strong start without him, though, they’re going to need production from Diaz and Encarnacion.