Tony Sipp

Tony Sipp - Left-hander Pitcher
Age: 24 Height: 6'0" Weight: 190 Bats: Left Throws: Left

	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	BB9	K9	WHIP
2007 Did not play	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Career	13	6	2.75	74	31	5	219.3	159	67	16	76	284	3.12	11.66	1.07

History: The Indians selected Sipp in the 45th round of the 2004 Draft out of Clemson University. The pick was a gamble by the Indians, as Sipp had only pitched in 22 career college games and many felt he would be too costly to sign. But, the Indians found a diamond in the rough and after he impressed the Indians in the Cape Cod League they gladly paid him an unheard of $130,000 for a 45th rounder to sign. In his professional debut in 2004 at short-season Mahoning Valley Sipp went 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA, but more impressive were his 74 strikeouts in only 42.2 IP. In 2005, Sipp went 6-3 with a 2.40 ERA and 130 strikeouts in 116.1 IP in 35 combined appearances (17 starts) at Lake County and Kinston. In 2006, Sipp went 4-2 with a 3.13 ERA in 29 appearances (4 starts) with 80 strikeouts in 60.1 IP with Akron.

Strengths & Opportunities: Sipp is a power-armed pitcher who has an impressive three-pitch arsenal. His stuff is big-time, fronted by a plus fastball and plus-plus slider that both grade out as out pitches at the major league level. His fastball has good movement and consistently sits in the 91-94 MPH range, although his quick arm action and excellent deception makes it look a lot faster. His outstanding 11.60 career strikeouts per nine innings average and 6.49 hits per nine innings average shows how dominant a pitcher he can be.

Sipp is still developing a changeup and has a good feel for it, and even after only over a year of using it the Indians feel it may end up being his best pitch. With the changeup, hitters can't sit on his slider and fastball, and the development of his changeup jumped him into an elite level of relief prospects, so much so, that Baseball America ranked him as the #2 closer prospect in all the minors in 2006. With three very good pitches, a player of Sipp's caliber would normally project as a starter, but the Indians love his potential as a dominant late-inning reliever. Sipp is also extremely athletic, and his athleticism allows him to consistently repeat his delivery well. He is very aggressive on the mound, and has prodigious aptitude.

Just before spring camp broke last year, Sipp started to experience discomfort in his left elbow and the Indians shut him down with a sore elbow. After a few days, the Indians diagnosed it as an ulnar collateral ligament sprain and deemed it serious enough to shut him down for half the season where they would re-evaluate it after the All Star break. In July, after Sipp started his throwing program he had a setback in his recovery from the injury where he experienced some pain in the elbow again. The Indians ended up sending him to Dr. James Andrews, and Sipp had to undergo Tommy John surgery.

Sipp is reportedly recovering well, and on track for a return sometime this season. Unfortunately, 2008 will be more about rebuilding arm strength and staying healthy, so his appearances and innings will be limited this year. Still, Tommy John surgeries today usually result in over 90% of pitchers experiencing a full recovery. Also, like many pitchers before Sipp, after a year of rehab pitchers typically tend to come back near full strength the following year and even stronger. One of the more interesting dynamics of Tommy John surgery is pitchers usually return from the surgery throwing harder than they ever did before, which is not from the surgery itself but instead from the rigorous rehab a pitcher puts himself through in strengthening the arm that causes the bump in velocity. Since Sipp already threw 93-94 MPH before the surgery, it will be interesting to see if he sees an increase in velocity when he is hopefully 100% at the start of the 2009 season.

Going forward, Sipp's elbow injury really hurt him and the Indians in that this year he would have been given a legitimate shot at a bullpen spot with the big league club. By not playing last year, Sipp lost a year of development and maybe more, and it no longer means he is a sure thing to help the backend of the Indians bullpen in 2008 and beyond as many thought he would. Also, while Sipp has made great strides with the changeup, he still is working on maintaining consistent command with it. He also is a little undersized, and lacks pinpoint control. Sipp also has been hampered by injuries, as he went down with the aforementioned elbow injury and he also missed two months in 2006 with an oblique injury and left elbow inflammation.

The Outlook: Going into 2007, Sipp was a candidate for the closer's job in Cleveland in 2008 and beyond. But, his Tommy John surgery changed all that. In 2008, the Indians will strictly monitor his pitch count and appearances in order to slowly build up his arm strength. Even without any setbacks, Sipp really will not be on the big league radar where he can help the Indians until spring training in 2009. Sipp should start the year in extended spring training, and then likely start the year with a short-season club on a rehab assignment which could take him through several stops to where he eventually finishes the last month or two of the season in Buffalo.

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