Kipnis, Brantley among top hitters in the American League

By foxsports
Published

Cleveland Indians 2B Jason Kipnis and OF Michael Brantley are in contention for the American League batting title.

Kipnis leads the AL in batting average, hitting .325 while Brantley sits at No. 4 in the AL, hitting .319. And with just 42 games left in the season things are heating up. Brantley and Kipnis are seperated by justy six points in batting average, while Kipnis leads Rangers DH Prince Fielder by just four points.

AL Batting Leaders

  Batting Average
Jason Kipnis, Indians .325
Prince Fielder, Rangers .321
Nelson Cruz, Mariners .320
Michael Brantley, Indians .319
Eric Hosmer, Royals .315
Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox .313
Lorenzo Cain, Royals .309
Jose Iglesias, Tigers .306
Jose Altuve, Astros .305
Ian Kinsler, Tigers .304

If Kipnis or Brantley were to win the batting title, they'd be the first Indian to win it since 1954 when Indians second baseman Bobby Avila won it with a .341 average. In total, six different Indians have won the American League batting title a total of eight times.

Nap Lajoie was the only Indian to win the batting title more than once, winning it in 1903, 1904 and 1910. 

This season Kipnis is hitting .325 with a .399 OBP and .472 SLG, posting 4.9 Wins above Replacment (WAR). In 415 at-bats, Kipnis has 135 hits, 31 doubles, 6 triples, 6 home runs and 39 RBI. Kipnis missed two weeks at the beginning of August with right shoulder inflammation.

Brantley this year is hitting .319 with a .391 OBP and .476 SLG, posting 3.1 Wins above Replacement (WAR). In 414 at-bats, Brantley has 132 hits, an AL-leading 38 doubles, 9 home runs and 66 RBIs.