Tony Marcel Sipp (born July 12, 1983) is an American former 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 ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

. He 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

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

, and

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

Amateur career

Born in

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula metropolitan area, and is part of the Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi–Pascag ...

, Sipp graduated from Moss Point High School in

Moss Point, Mississippi Moss Point is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 12,147 in 2020, a decline from the figure of 13,704 in 2010. The Moss Point Historic District and several individual buildings are listed on the National Reg ...

, where he also competed in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, winning a state title with the team in 2000. In baseball, Sipp also helped Moss Point High reach the state championship in baseball. Sipp and fellow major leaguer Joey Butler formerly played against one another, as they are both from

Jackson County, Mississippi Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 143,252, making it the fifth-most populous county in Mississippi. Its county seat is Pascagoula. The county was named for Andrew ...

. Sipp played for Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, and also attended Okaloosa-Walton College, before transferring to

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

. In 2003, 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

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...

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 returned to the league in 2004 to play for the

Cotuit Kettleers The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League ...

Professional career

Cleveland Indians

After being drafted by the

in the 45th round of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft. Sipp made his professional debut in 2004 with the Low-A

Mahoning Valley Scrappers The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Niles, Ohio, a city in the valley of the Mahoning River, and play their home games at Eastwood Field. From 1999 to 2020, they were ...

, logging a 3–1 record and 3.16 ERA in 10 appearances. He split the 2005 season between the Single-A Lake County Captains and the High-A Kinston Indians, posting a 6–3 record and 2.40 ERA in 35 games between the two teams. In 2006, he played for the Double-A Akron Aeros, recording a 4–2 record and 3.13 ERA with 80 strikeouts. He made his major league debut on April 22, 2009. Coming out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

, Sipp went 2–0 with an

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

of 2.92, recording 48

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

. In 2010, Sipp pitched to a 2–2 record and 4.14 ERA in 70 appearances with Cleveland. The next year, he logged a 6–3 record and 3.03 ERA in 69 games. He pitched in 63 games for Cleveland in 2012, recording a 1–2 record and 4.42 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 55.0 innings of work. In 4 years in the Indians bullpen, he appeared in 248 games and recorded 167 holds, striking out 225 batters and recording a 3.68 ERA.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On December 12, 2012, Sipp was acquired by the

in a nine-player three-team blockbuster trade that sent Shin-Soo Choo to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

. He was designated for assignment on August 4, 2013, after pitching to a 3–2 record and 4.78 ERA in 56 games. He became a free agent on November 27, 2013.

San Diego Padres

On February 7, 2014, Sipp signed a minor league deal with the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

organization. He was assigned to the Triple-A

El Paso Chihuahuas The El Paso Chihuahuas are a Minor League Baseball team based in El Paso, Texas. The Chihuahuas compete in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) as the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Sou ...

to begin the season but was released on May 1 after pitching to a 4.30 ERA in 11 appearances.

Houston Astros

On May 2, 2014, Sipp signed a major league deal with the

. Sipp became a key component of the Astros' bullpen for the remainder of the 2014 season, posting a 2.94 xFIP and striking out 11.19 batters per nine innings of work. On December 11, 2015, the Astros re-signed Sipp to a 3-year, $18 million contract. Sipp made 60 appearances for the Astros in 2016, pitching to a 4.95 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 43.2 innings of work. In 2017, Sipp made 46 appearances out of the bullpen and finished the season 0–1 with a 5.79 ERA. The Astros finished 2017 with a 101–61 record, giving them an AL West pennant clincher. Sipp did not see any sort of postseason action, but was still on the 40-man roster at the time, as the Astros won the 2017 World Series. In 2018 with Houston, Sipp posted a 3–1 record and stellar 1.86 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 38.2 innings pitched. He became a free agent following the season.

Washington Nationals

On March 14, 2019, Sipp signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the

. The deal included a mutual option for the 2020 season. On June 7, Sipp hit 10 years of major league service time. He was designated for assignment on August 2 after posting an ERA of 4.71 in 36 appearances. He was released shortly afterwards. Reports involving the

Houston Astros sign stealing scandal The Houston Astros sign stealing scandal in Major League Baseball (MLB) broke in November 2019. Several members of the Houston Astros were disciplined for illegally using a video camera system to Sign stealing, steal signs from opposing teams ...

state that prior to the

2019 World Series The 2019 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season. The 115th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League champion 2019 ...

Nationals ace

Max Scherzer Maxwell Martin Scherzer (born July 27, 1984), nicknamed "Mad Max", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tige ...

reached out to Sipp and asked if the Nationals needed to be concerned about the Astros even with no runners on base, to which Sipp replied yes.

Pitching style

Sipp throws four pitches: a

four-seam fastball A four-seam fastball, also called a rising fastball, a four-seamer, or a cross-seam fastball, is a pitch (baseball), pitch in baseball. It is a member of the fastball family of pitches and is usually the fastest ball thrown by a pitcher. It is s ...

(91-94 mph), a two-seam fastball (89–91), a slider (79–82), and a changeup to right-handed hitters (78–81). The slider is his most common two-strike pitch.

References

External links

Bio from MiLB.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sipp, Tony 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Pascagoula, Mississippi Baseball players from Mississippi African-American baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Cleveland Indians players Arizona Diamondbacks players Houston Astros players Washington Nationals players 21st-century American sportsmen Northwest Florida State Raiders baseball players Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs baseball players Clemson Tigers baseball players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players Lake County Captains players Kinston Indians players Akron Aeros players Gulf Coast Indians players Columbus Clippers players Reno Aces players El Paso Chihuahuas players Peoria Javelinas players Cotuit Kettleers players Wareham Gatemen players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen