Indians’ Jason Kipnis Thinks New Contract Led to Poor Season
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BananaStock/ThinkStock(NEW YORK) — Even by his standards, Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis has struggled to follow up his breakout 2013 season despite a new contract. Kipnis thinks his new deal is partially to blame for his struggles.
“I might have taken it the wrong way,” Kipnis told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “There’s one of two ways to go about it. There’s ‘Hey, I have the security and the money now I can go out and just play the game of baseball.’ I took the way, where, ‘I’ve got this money, I’ve got to live up to it.'”
“So I might have pressed at the beginning and tried to do too much,” he continued. “In hindsight that could have hurt me and played a little part of this season.”
Last season, Kipnis made the American League All-Star team after he batted .284 with 17 home runs with 84 RBIs and 30 steals.
The Indians rewarded Kipnis with a six-year contract extension worth $52.5 million.
Kipnis has struggled to live up to the deal this season. Through 119 games, he’s hitting .247 with six home runs and 41 RBIs.
The 27-year-old Kipnis is a career .264 hitter.
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