Andre Martinas Lipcius (born May 22, 1998) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

in the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

organization. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

, for whom he made his debut in 2023.

Career

Amateur career

Lipcius attended Lafayette High School in

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It had a population of 15,425 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern par ...

, where he was a four-year letterman and a team captain. He committed to the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, where he played with his brother and fraternal twin, Luc, and majored in nuclear engineering. As a freshman, he was named to the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

All-Freshman Team, as he started all 52 of the team's games at first base leading the team with 11 doubles. He moved to shortstop as a sophomore and improved on nearly all his batting metrics, including jumping from one to seven home runs, and improving his average from .275 to .315. In 2018, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

, and was named a league all-star. He finished his career as a junior, starting all 61 games for the Volunteers at third base, and leading the team with 17 home runs to go with 58 RBIs, a .306 average, and a team-leading 72 hits.

Detroit Tigers

The

selected Lipcius in the third round, 83rd overall, in the 2019 MLB draft and he was assigned to the Single-A

West Michigan Whitecaps The West Michigan Whitecaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Comstock Park, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and play their home games at LMCU Ballpar ...

to start his career, where he hit .273 over 253 at bats, with an OBP of .344. When the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

led to the cancellation of the minor league season in 2020, Lipcius played with the

Peninsula Pilots The Peninsula Pilots are an Amateur baseball in the United States, amateur baseball team in the Coastal Plain League, Collegiate summer baseball, collegiate summer baseball league. The team plays its home games at the War Memorial Stadium (Hampt ...

in the

Coastal Plain League The Coastal Plain League (CPL) is a wood-bat collegiate summer baseball league, featuring college players recruited from throughout the nation. The league takes its name from the Class D level Coastal Plain League which operated in the area f ...

. In 2021, Lipcius started the season in West Michigan, now at the High-A level due to the shake-up in affiliates in the Tigers organization. On June 1, he received a call-up to the Double-A

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving as the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Ti ...

. At the time of his call-up, Lipcius led the Whitecaps in batting average at .277, had three home runs and 13 RBIs, and had 12 walks to 16 strikeouts, helping him to an OBP of .357 and an OPS of .839. With the SeaWolves, he hit .235 in 94 games with nine homers and 46 RBI. He split the 2022 season between Erie and the Triple-A

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

, batting a combined .277 with 12 homers and 63 RBI in 134 games. On November 15, 2022, the Tigers added Lipcius to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. He was optioned to the Toledo Mud Hens to begin the 2023 season, where, in 97 games, he batted .272/.363/.419 with 11 home runs and 58 RBI. On September 1, Lipcius was promoted to the major leagues for the first time, making his debut as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning against the

. His first major league hit was a home run off

Mike Clevinger Michael Anthony Clevinger (born December 21, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Chicago White Sox organization. He has previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres. Clevinger made his MLB debut in ...

of the White Sox the following day. In 13 games, he hit .286/.342/.400 with one home run and four RBI. He was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

on February 29, 2024.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On March 4, 2024, Lipcius was traded to the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in exchange for cash considerations. The Dodgers designated him for assignment on March 16. Lipcius cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Triple–A

Oklahoma City Baseball Club The Oklahoma City Comets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their home games at Chickasaw Bricktown Bal ...

on March 23. In 140 appearances, he batted .271 with 25 home runs and 89 RBI. Lipcius was released by the Dodgers organization on December 16.

Chicago White Sox

On December 18, 2024, Lipcius signed a minor league contract with the

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lipcius, Andre 1998 births Living people Baseball players from Anne Arundel County, Maryland Charlotte Knights players Detroit Tigers players Erie SeaWolves players Harwich Mariners players Major League Baseball infielders Oklahoma City Baseball Club players Sportspeople from Annapolis, Maryland Tennessee Volunteers baseball players Tigres del Licey players Toledo Mud Hens players West Michigan Whitecaps players