Indians Top 100 Prospects: #16 Tony Sipp

16. Tony Sipp - Left-handed Pitcher
Born: 07/12/1983 - Height: 6'0" - Weight: 190 - Bats: Left - Throws: Left

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2004	20	Mahoning Vy	A-	3	1	3.16	10	10	0	42.2	33	15	5	13	74	2.7	15.6	1.08
2005	21	Lake County	A	4	1	2.22	13	12	0	69.0	47	17	5	19	71	2.5	9.3	0.96
	21	Kinston	A+	2	2	2.66	22	5	2	47.1	34	14	4	23	59	4.4	11.2	1.20
2006	22	Akron	AA	4	2	3.13	29	4	3	60.1	44	21	2	21	80	3.1	11.9	1.09
2007	23	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	24	GCL Indians	R	0	0	0.00	3	1	0	4.0	0	0	0	1	4	2.3	9.0	0.25
	24	Kinston	A+	0	0	1.13	5	0	0	8.0	4	1	0	3	10	3.4	11.3	0.88
	24	Akron	AA	0	3	3.74	16	0	1	21.2	19	9	4	7	32	2.9	13.3	1.20
		Career		13	9	2.74	98	32	6	253.0	181	77	20	87	330	3.1	11.7	1.06

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. 

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.  He is still developing a changeup and has a good feel for it, and even though he just started throwing it when he came into the organization 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 has pushed him into the upper echelon of elite relief prospects in the minors. 

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.  He gets a lot of swing and misses with all three of his pitches, and his deception in his delivery troubles right-handers who have a hard time picking up the ball out of his hand.  He does not have a traditional left-handed delivery since he is a little bit open and therefore really attacks lefties and righties the same.  He is also extremely athletic, and his athleticism allows him to consistently repeat his delivery well. He is very aggressive on the mound, and has amazing aptitude. 

Sipp's career has been sidetracked the last two years as he did not pitch in 2007 after experiencing discomfort in his left elbow near the end of spring training and was shutdown for the first half of the season.  An MRI in July 2007 found the UCL was no longer strained or even torn, but that he had a fracture near his UCL as it had pulled at the bone in his elbow that it was attached to until it eventually fractured which happens when the ligament is too strong or the bone too weak.  He underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2007 and followed that up with a rigorous 11-month rehab and was back in game action in June 2008.  He was pain free and spent the rest of the 2008 season on a very restricted throwing program.  By the end of the season his return from Tommy John surgery had gone well as his velocity was back in the low 90s and he was touching 94 MPH with no setbacks or any pain.  He came back stronger, pitched really well, and performed a lot better than the Indians expected him to. 

Sipp was very close to 100% when the season ended, but early in the offseason reportedly started experiencing some discomfort in his shoulder which concerned the Indians enough to shut him down and they will re-evaluate him once he reports to spring training.  If the shoulder issue is not serious and he is good to go once spring training starts, Sipp should be 100% with the elbow and completely recovered from the Tommy John surgery and be able to throw without any restrictions in 2009.  He needs to prove he can stay healthy, as in addition to the elbow surgery and looming shoulder issue, he also missed two months in 2006 with an oblique injury and left elbow inflammation.  Also, while he 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. 

Outlook:  Sipp's elbow injury really came at a bad time for him and the Indians in that he probably would have already made his major league debut and would be a fixture in the Indians big league bullpen by now.  The Indians made some moves in the offseason to bolster their big league bullpen, but if Sipp is healthy he could factor into the big league bullpen mix by the middle of the season.  He will open the 2009 season in the Triple-A Columbus bullpen. 

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr 

Tony Sipp MinorLeagueBaseball.com stats page 

Tony Sipp Baseball-Reference page 

Tony Sipp MinorLeagueSplits.com page 

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