Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis seemed a little frustrated when assessing the state of the AL Central after Sunday’s loss.
The Indians were preseason favorites in the division, but sit at 29-30 after losing three of four to the rebuilding Chicago White Sox. With that, the Indians and White Sox have the same record, both sitting 11.5 games behind the first-place Minnesota Twins.
According to Kipnis, the equal records are meaningless, because the Indians can’t do any worse and the White Sox can’t do any better.
“Think about it, we have the same record. We’re playing like s— and they’re playing as good as they can and we have the same record, to put it in perspective,” Kipnis said, via Kevin Powell of WGN Radio. “Are they playing better than us? At least this series, absolutely. I think they’ll admit it too, that it’s too early to celebrate a second place trophy on June 2.”
It feels like a bit of frustration boiling over from Kipnis’s perspective. The Indians are a long-shot to even get back in the division race at this point, and two months into the season, they aren’t playing well at all. Injuries have played a part in that, but it’s not that simple, and the hole is getting deeper and deeper. Sure, the odds still favor Cleveland finishing ahead of Chicago this year, but their ambitions are much higher than that.
