Indians looking ahead for hope

By Paul Hoynes

The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND

Never has a ballclub needed a future more than the Indians. They displayed part of it earlier this week in the visitor’s clubhouse at Progressive Field.

Fourteen players answered questions from reporters as part of the team’s annual winter development program. In a matter of months, a few of them could be answering the same questions in the Indians’ locker room just down the concourse as big leaguers.

The Indians ended last season as the youngest team in the majors. They aren’t expected to get much older and they have holes to fill. There has rarely been a better time to be a minor leaguer in the organization.

Second baseman Jason Kipnis, third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall and right-hander Alex White could be wearing Indians uniforms before September. There are more behind them, but for now they’ll do.

The Indians open spring training on Feb. 15 in Goodyear, Ariz. They’ll do so with second and third base unclaimed.

Kipnis, 23, played at three levels last year, including a postseason run at Class AAA Columbus to help the Clippers win the International League championship and the overall Triple-A championship.

The Indians fast-tracked him, throwing 622 at-bats at the converted center fielder starting at Class A Kinston and ending in the Arizona Fall League. He hit at every stop, which gives him a chance, no matter how slim, to win the second-base job in spring training.

Jason Donald, Luis Valbuena, Jayson Nix and Cord Phelps, another prospect, will compete with Kipnis, a second-round pick in 2009 from Arizona State.

He has no idea what awaits him in the Arizona desert, but he’ll settle for causing manager Manny Acta and GM Chris Antonetti sleepless nights in late March when the roster has to be cut to 25 players.

“There’s a shot,” said Ross Atkins, director of player development, “but that’s more a question for Chris and Manny.”

Realistically, Kipnis will probably open the season at Columbus.

“If I get caught up thinking about it, it would only hurt me,” said Kipnis, who hit a combined .307 (158 for 518) at Kinston and Class AA Akron. “That’s a decision for the guys up top to make. My job is to force their hand a little bit; to put me in the best possible position.”

The Indians moved Kipnis from center to second at the end of the 2009 season. Atkins said he never thought Kipnis would make the move so quickly. MLB.com rated him the No. 4 second-base prospect in the big leagues.

The move perplexed Kipnis at first. Then he saw the light. “I thought this could be my ticket up,” he said. “I took it and ran with it.”

It’s all but guaranteed that Chisenhall, the Indians’ No.1 pick in 2008, will open the year at Columbus. His next Triple-A at-bat will be his first. But unless Nix conquers the hot corner this spring or the Indians are blown away by Donald or Jack Hannahan, there’s not much stopping Chisenhall from arriving later in the season.

“No question, he certainly could,” said Atkins.

Until then there is work to do. Chisenhall, ranked as the second-best third-base prospect by MLB.com, has to prove he’s over a strained right shoulder that cut into his playing time last year. The converted shortstop needs work on his defense as well.

“Third base is a challenging position,” said Chisenhall, 22. “You need good hands, but you use your legs a lot. You’re basically a catcher playing third. You have to knock the ball down.”

Last year Chisenhall hit .278 (128 for 460) with 22 doubles, three triples, 17 homers and 84 RBIs at Akron.

The Indians drafted White No. 1 in 2009. He went 2-3 with a 2.86 ERA at Kinston and 8-7 with a 2.28 ERA in 18 games, including 17 starts, at Akron. He pitched 150 2/3 innings, the most by a Tribe minor leaguer.

White, 22, wasn’t promoted to Columbus for the postseason because he’d reached his innings limit.

“He’ll go into our Triple-A rotation this year and try to make an impact [in the big leagues] at some point in 2011,” said Atkins. “It’s not etched in stone, but it’s the most realistic situation at this point.”