Kipnis jokingly gets ready to fight Odor after hard slide

Jason Kipnis was in high spirits Thursday, cracking a pretty good joke at the expense of Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor.

After Odor's hard slide took out Kipnis at second base, the Cleveland Indians infielder jokingly put up his dukes to prepare for a fight against Odor.

The pair chuckled about the encounter before departing to their respective dugouts.

After the game's conclusion, Kipnis had the following to say about his goofy antics.

"That wasn't planned at all. It just came to me," Kipnis explained to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. "I was just goofing around with him. It wasn't a dirty slide from him at all. It was a slow-developing grounder, so I knew he was going to be right on top of me. It was a hard slide. That's the way I slide into second. I hope he never stops sliding hard into second. He's a good guy. His uncle was my Double-A hitting coach, so I've known about him coming up for a while. I hope he always plays hard."

Odor famously punched Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista in the face after he was on the defensive side of a similar encounter earlier this season, earning an eight-game suspension (eventually reduced to seven) in the process.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)