Jason Michael Kipnis (born April 3, 1987; nicknamed "Kip") is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs. He attended Glenbrook North High School in the suburbs of Chicago where he earned three letters playing baseball for the Glenbrook North Spartans. He attended the University of Kentucky, but transferred to Arizona State University after two years. In college, Kipnis was an All-American and the 2009 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year for the Sun Devils.
The Indians selected Kipnis in the second round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. In 2010, he was named the Indians' Minor League Player of the Year, and a Baseball America Minor League All Star. Prior to the 2011 season, Baseball Prospectus ranked him as the top Indians prospect and the 28th-highest prospect in baseball. At mid-season, Baseball America rated him as baseball's 31st-best prospect. He was called up from the minor leagues on July 22, 2011. In 2012, he became the starting second baseman for the Indians.
Jason Michael Kipnis was born on April 3, 1987, in Northbrook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He was the fourth child born to Kay and Mark Kipnis. He has two older brothers, Blair and Todd. His older sister Amanda played softball at the University of Maryland. When he was a child, his father played an important role in his baseball life. He played Little League and American Legion Baseball. Though Kipnis played baseball, football, and soccer while growing up, he said there was never any question that his goal was to become a professional baseball player. He grew up a Chicago Cubs fan, and was neighbors with Steve Bartman.
Kipnis attended Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, graduating in 2005. He earned three letters in baseball for the Glenbrook North Spartans and was selected as team captain twice. He played shortstop, center field and pitcher. As an all-conference junior, Kipnis batted .455 with a, at the time, school-record of 11 home runs. As a senior, Kipnis batted .521 with a .690 on-base percentage and 32 stolen bases in 32 attempts; he was named first-team all-state and the Central Suburban League Most Valuable Player. He was named all-conference in both his junior and senior seasons.
As a freshman at Glenbrook North, Kipnis played soccer, setting the school's single-season goal scoring record with 41. He also played football there in 2003 and 2004. An All-Conference wide receiver, Kipnis set single-season school records for receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He also established school records for career receptions and receiving yards. As a senior in 2004, Kipnis had 49 pass receptions for 956 yards and 10 touchdowns. His 2004 totals remain Glenbrook North single-season records for receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. Kipnis still holds the school's career record with 1,247 receiving yards. In December 2004, the Pioneer Press sports staff selected Kipnis as a member of its "2004 North Stars", the all-star football team for the Central Suburban League's North Division. In announcing its selection, the Pioneer Press noted: "Quite simply one of the top receivers in the state, a player who piled up impressive numbers despite the fact the Spartans averaged barely 15 passing attempts per game."
After graduating from high school in 2005, Kipnis attended the University of Kentucky and then Arizona State University. At the University of Kentucky, Kipnis redshirted during the 2006 baseball season. In the spring of 2007, Kipnis batted .337 for the Wildcats with a .450 on-base percentage as an outfielder while stealing 11 bases in 12 attempts in 34 games. In February of that year, Kipnis was awarded Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week honors. In the summer before his sophomore year, Kipnis played for the Covington Lumberjacks of the Valley Baseball League, an NCAA-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia. He batted .318 with a .505 on-base percentage and 24 stolen bases.
After two years at the University of Kentucky, Kipnis transferred to Arizona State University. He played baseball for the Sun Devils and double-majored in psychology and sociology. In an interview, Kipnis stated that the University of Kentucky wasn't the right fit for him and that ASU's college baseball reputation would make it a better fit.
In 2008, Kipnis batted .371 with 14 home runs and 73 runs batted in. He finished second in the league with 24 stolen bases in 28 attempts. Kipnis primarily played center field, but played all outfield positions and second base; he batted leadoff part of the time. In 2008, Kipnis became the second Arizona State player to win the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Pacific-10 Conference Newcomer of the Year. (Teammate Ike Davis earned the award two years earlier.) Kipnis was named second-team All-America by the ABCA and named third-team All-American outfielder by Baseball America. In May 2008, he won the Pacific-10 Player of the Week award. In June, the San Diego Padres drafted Kipnis during the fourth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft. However, Kipnis opted to remain in college at Arizona State, becoming the seventh-highest player in the draft who chose not to sign. He decided not to sign with the Padres because he felt he hadn't fully matured and accomplished everything in college. Regarding Kipnis' success, Arizona State coach Pat Murphy observed: "I love that kid. He's tough as nails, and really hard on himself." Moreover, Paul DePodesta, San Diego Padres front office assistant and former Los Angeles Dodgers general manager, described him as "a pesky player who is a very tough out, hitting the ball to all fields and running the bases aggressively ... [who] plays very hard and is surprisingly strong." In the summer of 2008, Kipnis played for the Cotuit Kettleers in the Cape Cod League, a collegiate summer baseball league located on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
In 2009, Kipnis was the team's leadoff hitter and batted .384 with a .500 on-base percentage and a .709 slugging percentage. He finished with 16 home runs, 71 RBIs, 27 steals in 33 attempts, 51 walks and 32 strikeouts. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), Baseball America, and Collegiate Baseball named Kipnis the Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year, a Pac-10 Conference All-Star outfielder, and a First Team College All-American outfielder. Rivals.com rated Kipnis the number one outfielder in the nation.
Over two seasons, Kipnis batted .378 with 30 home runs, 144 RBIs, 142 runs, 37 doubles, 10 triples, and 51 stolen bases in 474 at bats for the Sun Devils.
The Cleveland Indians drafted Kipnis in the second round (63rd overall) of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft, and he received a signing bonus of $575,000. In 2009, the first-year minor leaguer batted .306 for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the Short-Season A classification New York–Penn League, playing left and center field. While Kipnis appeared to be a good prospect as an outfielder, the Indians saw his potential as a second baseman. Kipnis felt he would have more success in the majors at second base, particularly because of Cleveland's difficulties at that position in recent years. Baseball America ranked him the fifth-best player in the league. During this time, Baseball Prospectus rated him the Indians' eighth-best prospect, describing Kipnis as "fitting great baseball intelligence, a lot of intensity, and surprising tools into a small package. He works the count extremely well and makes consistently hard contact, and he has some surprising pop for his size."
In 2010, Kipnis batted .300 for the Kinston Indians of the Carolina League. Kipnis was promoted from Kinston to the Akron Aeros of the AA Eastern League on June 10, 2010. He hit .311 for the Aeros and won the Aeros Player of the Week Award twice. Baseball America ranked Kipnis the ninth-best prospect in the Eastern League. At the same time, Kipnis made a successful conversion to second base.