born april nicknamed american professional baseball second baseman cleveland_indians major_league_baseball mlb attended suburbs chicago earned letters playing baseball north attended transferred years college american conference player year indians selected second round major_league_baseball draft named indians year prior season ranked indians prospect 28th highest prospect baseball mid season rated baseball 31st best prospect called minor leagues july starting second baseman indians early life born april illinois suburb chicago fourth child born older brothers blair older sister played child father played important role baseball life played played baseball football soccer growing said question goal professional baseball player high school attended graduating earned letters baseball north selected team captain twice played shortstop center field pitcher conference junior batted school record home runs senior batted base percentage stolen bases attempts named team state valuable player named conference junior senior seasons freshman played soccer setting school single season goal scoring record played football conference wide receiver set single season school records yards touchdowns established school records career receiving yards senior pass yards touchdowns totals remain single season records receiving yards receiving touchdowns holds school career record receiving yards december sports staff selected member north stars star football team announcing selection noted simply receivers state player impressive numbers despite fact averaged barely passing attempts game college graduating high school attended red baseball season spring began competing kentucky baseball games batted base percentage outfielder stealing bases attempts games february year awarded southeastern conference freshman week honors summer sophomore year played sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league region virginia batted base percentage stolen bases years transferred played baseball sun double psychology interview stated wasn right fit college baseball reputation better fit batted home runs runs batted finished second league stolen bases attempts primarily played center field played outfield positions second base batted time second player win year earned award years earlier named second team america named team american outfielder won player week award june san_diego_padres drafted fourth round major_league_baseball draft opted remain college seventh highest player draft chose sign decided sign felt hadn fully matured accomplished college success coach observed love kid tough nails hard san_diego_padres office assistant los_angeles_dodgers general manager described player tough hitting ball fields running bases aggressively plays hard surprisingly strong summer played collegiate summer baseball league located massachusetts team hitter batted base percentage slugging percentage finished home runs rbis steals attempts walks strikeouts national collegiate baseball writers association collegiate baseball named conference player year conference star outfielder team college american outfielder rated number outfielder nation seasons batted home runs rbis runs doubles triples stolen bases bats sun minor leagues cleveland indians drafted second round 63rd overall major_league_baseball draft received signing bonus year minor batted valley short season classification new_york playing left center field appeared good prospect outfielder indians saw potential second baseman felt success majors second base particularly cleveland difficulties position recent years ranked fifth best player league time baseball rated indians eighth best prospect describing fitting great baseball intelligence lot intensity surprising tools small package works count extremely makes consistently hard contact surprising pop size batted promoted june hit won player week award twice ranked ninth best prospect time successful conversion second base joined playoffs batted games hit cycle september victory clinched international_league title big game voted second fans choice best game minor league baseball yearly awards veteran catcher said bring look little guy come hit million mean little fifth spot goes hits cycle led indians minor league system hits runs finished tied triples fourth doubles tied fifth home runs rbis batted combined named indians year award named season played batted tied fifth league rbis named rising stars game wrote blog time league baseball ranked cleveland prospect baseball reported compact athlete works count consistently barrels balls power home runs annually big leagues indians manager described blue collar dirt bag run wall relentless type guy writer said strong plenty bat speed feel strike zone impressive problem generating power handle breaking stuff makes adjustments handle left handed pitching fine baseball ranked 28th highest prospect baseball hitter home runs best organization ranked 39th best prospect baseball saying great progress defensively past year doubt rbi type offensive future initially ranked 54th best prospect baseball second best second base prospect second best prospect indians organization midseason publication ranked 31st best minors named indians week june july batting home runs base percentage point season stolen base attempts leading international_league runs scored triples time second fourth slugging percentage fifth base percentage tied sixth rbis tied seventh hits twelfth average tied fifteenth stolen bases tied nineteenth july named week represented cleveland indians star game july hitting mph fastball home run led inning united_states named team doubled walked game july july called cleveland_indians time leading international league triples second runs scored seventh total bases tied tenth walks twelfth rbis seventeenth stolen bases attempts major leagues cleveland indians present major league debut july starting second base chicago_white_sox career hit came game days later game winning walk single bases loaded outs ninth inning anaheim august indians second baseman hit home run consecutive games indian indians rookie year time major league history player consecutive games weeks major league debut august hit run game time rookie played games major leagues batted seven home runs rbis got starting job second base game chicago_white_sox triple home run career high rbis indians victory june hit major league grand slam starting pitcher played games batting home runs rbis finished tied 6th american_league steals season continued improve performance winning player week honor twice month june batted june addition stealing bases attempts named month june later named member team finished leaders sacrifice flies tied 2nd walks tied 7th steals tied 9th signed year million contract indians april broke indians team record hits single month total hits ended month runs people mlb hits runs month june voted player month personal life practicing roman catholic self identifies jewish father jewish ancestry nicknamed prone uniform dirty course game indians manager term speaking public
Jason Kipnis