The entire time you are watching this catch, remember that Jason Kipnis is not a regular outfielder. Just keep that in the back of your mind as you look at this.
This catch by Jason Kipnis is the best you’ll ever see by a second baseman playing center
This catch is good regardless, but it’s especially amazing because that’s not his position.
@Indians
I mean...WOW. There are many outfielders that play there every day who wouldn’t make that catch. Kipnis was asked to shift to the outfield for the playoffs in order to keep Cleveland’s infield intact while they were on a successful streak, and he obliged.
“...I’m still learning on the run. … they’ve even told me, I’m not expected to go out there and give Gold Glove defense. I’m expected to go run, catch the ball and get it in as fast as I can. We know with this staff and our offense that that’s really my job at this point, to go and play—baseball instincts will take over and to play as good of defense as I can.”
Cleveland manager Terry Francona was confident with Kipnis’ abilities but is also carrying a backup outfielder should the Indians need to make a switch at any point.
Kipnis hasn’t played center field since 2209, but even if he’d played the position every day for the past ten years this catch would still be impressive.
According to Statcast it was only a 26% catch probability.
Even the Indians’ official Twitter account acknowledged people’s skepticism of Kipnis’ skills out there in the grassy expanse.
You just never know what you’ll get in the playoffs. In this case it was a Gold Glove-caliber catch from the person least expected.
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