March 14: The Nats have formally announced the deal, and Sipp has reported to camp. Because they already had an open 40-man spot after releasing Solis, no corresponding move was necessary to accommodate the addition of Sipp.
March 13: The Nationals have a deal in place with free agent reliever Tony Sipp, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter links). It’s a one-year, $1.25MM contract that includes a $250K buyout on a $2.5MM mutual option, per reports from Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter links) and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Sipp, a 35-year-old southpaw, bounced back in the results department last season after two rough campaigns in Houston. He finished 2018 with 38 2/3 innings of 1.86 ERA pitching over 54 appearances — quite an improvement over the 5.33 ERA he had maintained over his prior 81 frames. As Sipp’s low innings tallies suggest, he has been used primarily as a left-on-left specialist. That also means the earned runs outcomes probably aren’t the best means of measuring his usefulness on the hill.
Looking beneath the hood, Sipp has generally maintained solid K/BB numbers throughout his career. In five years in Houston, he carried 9.9 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 and rarely strayed too far from those means. The difference between his good and bad years, more than anything else, has been his ability to limit the long ball. Sipp hit his stride in Houston when he improved upon early-career problems in that regard, then slipped when he allowed more than two dingers per nine innings in those ugly 2016-17 seasons. Last year, only a single opposing hitter left the yard against him.
Though that surely isn’t sustainable — a 2.6% HR/FB rate is sure to rise — it shows that Sipp was able to adjust. He still has the same underlying stuff and ability that led the ’Stros to give him a three-year deal in the 2015-16 offseason. Last year, he maintained a 13.7% swinging-strike rate and maintained a fastball in the 92 mph range, both of which are at or above his career levels. The Statcast numbers were quite promising: hitters entering the box against Sipp maintained a meager 22.1% hard-contact rate and mustered only a .258 wOBA that actually lagged expectations (.252 xwOBA) based upon contact quality.
Sipp is likely to be deployed primarily as a southpaw specialist in D.C. He held opposing left-handed hitters to an anemic .188/.263/.294 batting line last year after finally dealing with the gopher ball infestation. Over his career, though, Sipp has actually maintained quite neutral platoon splits. Through about a thousand plate appearances each against left-handed and right-handed hitters, the former group carries a .308 wOBA and the latter a .311 mark.
It’s a bit difficult to pinpoint just what allowed Sipp to regain his effectiveness. A re-aligned release point is certainly notable; perhaps it enabled deeper changes (sequencing? tunneling?) to boost the effectiveness of his repertoire. Poor competition in a stratified American League and lower-leverage usage were surely also factors, though it’s fair to note that Sipp ended up with a career-best 1.24 win-probability added and was ultimately called upon to pitch in three ALCS contests.
The Nats probably aren’t expecting premium results from Sipp, given the late-stage signing and meager guarantee. But it’s an easy risk to take on a player who can reasonably be expected to represent an upgrade over the just-released Sammy Solis. The club avoided all but a sixth of the $850K arb deal it had in place with Solis, which accounts for about half of the new obligation. Sipp will serve as a LOOGY and middle relief option for the Washington club, boosting a bullpen depth chart that has its fair share of questions.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Good luck T-Sipp! You were underappreciated in Houston!
Pretty good season last year. Slipped under the radar.
Sipped*
*Sipped under the radar 😉
cmon dont be that guy
Some people just can’t help it.
This is a very nice signing. I’m interested to see how much he brings in. At this point, I can’t imagine it’s any more than $3 million (max).
In other news, the Braves sit on their hands while watching 3 other NL east teams make winning and depth moves ALL offseason.. Ugh
Like I said yesterday. Sipp is one the braves should have got
If there’s one thing the Braves do already have its depth.
They don’t need these mediocre starting pitchers (e.g. Gio Gonzalez) or bullpen arms (e.g. Sipp)
They have plenty of young arms who can give what these veteran depth pieces will provide.
What they don’t have is top of the rotation or top tier closer level arms that can be relied upon to consistently perform at a high level.
The young arms have the talent to maybe be those things, but right now highly uncertain and unreliable.
I’m a big fan of Sipp. Smart move by the Nats. On paper the NL East is such a tight race that little moves like this can make the difference.
35-year-old southpaw
Smart, Riz. Bullpen is the only place where Nats are weak— otherwise the most well-balanced team in the East. (Which is different from BEST…)
Yea. I think that’s a fair statement.
Guess you haven’t seen the Phillies
guess you cant read
They’re more well rounded? Maybe more SPs but I think the Phillies are more well rounded in every other facet.
I’m not gonna take the time to prove you wrong. Just know that you’re wrong.
If well-rounded is different then the best, then, respectfully, the Marlins are surely the most well-rounded. The Marlins suck equally in all facets.
guess they’ll sign Tim Slurp next
fail
nah
Yeah it was. It only would have worked if Sipp was some random but he is someone we all know.
wow!
* Tim Slurpp
Great deal. Hope he can sustain his 2018 success. Still wish my Red Sox would add to their bullpen.
I doubt it was a money issue. Probably more that Sipp wanted to stay out of the AL East, where LOGYs go to die.
For the Nats, it’s a no brainer. Sipp’s rather typical; some years good, others not so good. But if you catch him on the upside, he can be almost dominant. It’s a cheap roll of the dice.
It’s sure nice to be left-handed in baseball. You can hang around for quite a while….Sipp’s always been a pretty good pitcher whose numbers don’t reflect much of his value because he usually gives up a ton of homers and he pitches so few innings that one bad outing wrecks his numbers for the season. I do wonder if he’s an endangered species; if MLB gets its way with the “three batter minimum” rule it might be the end for guys like Sipp, who has pitched just 482 innings in 580 games in his career.
His numbers have been typically better vs RHH’s, so he’ll be a guy that can handle 3 batter minimum.
His career games/IP ratio seem to show the opposite., though, right?
Tells me they probably aren’t going to go after Kimbrel (even though they should). Still it’s a nice move. Sipp, Doolittle, Grace/Nuno should be the lefties.
Grace over Nuno for sure. Grace earned his spot last year and Nuno hasnt impressed in ST. Hopefully they can convince Nuno to stick around in AAA though because theres always going to be injuries.
he was one of the few guys the Astros turned to last season that pitched consistently throughout the year
I think if Nationals added Kimbrel too, that gives them a nice bullpen. With Doo, Craig, Sipp, Rosenthal, they have got pretty good arms in the pen. Kyle, Miller, Grace, etc are nice second string to have. It is just a question of whether they want to take a hit in draft and taxes.
They need to go out and pay the stinking luxury tax again this year for Kimbrel. That’s the golden ticket to the World Series Mr. Lerner. Cant believe that he is still available. I mean… Do we want a team that is definitely going to win? Even Doolittle said that he’d take less money and be a set up man again if the Nationals brought in Kimbrel, because winning a World Series is more important. PERIOD. PLEASE do the right thing.
He’s already declining a little. High risk. Aren’t you glad the Nationals didn’t extend Mark Melancon?
Very nice move by the Gnats, Sipp is underrated.
Why was Tony Sipp signed?
Easy – Bryce Harper now plays for the Phillies, and he’s one more LOOGY to run out there against Harper in tight games.
Harper has a career .796 OPS against LHP, vs. a .944 OPS vs. RHP.
OK, OK, it’s not just Harper. There are some other pretty good hitters in the NL East too – Freeman, Markakis, Inciarte, Herrera, Conforto and Nimmo.
He’ll see action against all of those guys.
This. I don’t get why the articles never seem to delve on division opponents’ handedness to contextualize pitcher signings, particularly in the case of LOOGYs.
Like in this case, the Mets could conceivably lead off with four lefties (Nimmo, McNeil, Conforto, Cano.) Sipp will be a huge weapon if he has a good year.
“Gopher ball infestation” lol
I thought he’d make a nice value signing and at $1.25 million he definitely is.
Have to imagine he’ll get to face Bryce and Cano regularly. His performance could have a decent sized impact on the division.
He won’t have to face Cano much, because of Robinson’s DL stay.
what does LOOGY stand for?
Left-handed One Out Guy. It’s a clumsy acronym.
Good signing. Was hoping Cubs would sign. Maybe Kimbrel with strop and morrow out
Not Theo and Jed’s MO and Ricketts took away the checkbook. But Theo and Jed are pretty good at cobbling a bullpen together out of spare parts.
i cant believe he didnt get a-oh wait
I know the Astros have a lot of up and coming arms but if Tony was going to be this ‘Cheap’ then they made a mistake to let him go. Good Luck Tony!
Teams don’t “let” FAs go. They may have made him an offer. Players don’t always take the most money (see McCann, Brian).
Cubs signing Kimbrel like an Eskimo buying a two-year supply of ice.
So the whole “we released Solis so he can find a new home” response by the Nats was bs. They knew they were bringing in Sipp, but wanted to look like the good guys for releasing him early. Nice try Nats, nice try….
What? They knew he wasn’t going to make the roster so they released him. If they didn’t sign Sipp, Nuno was still gonna make it over Solis. Why keep a guy around who you know isn’t going to make the squad? Lol if you don’t know what youre talking about don’t comment, “sportsguy”.
My bad. You just have the direct line to Rizzo so you know the deal. Lol. I use deductive reasoning Mr. “God”.
They cut him because he’s no good, and they did both him and themselves a favour by waiting until the last day before they owe him a whole year.
As an Astros fan, I wish the Nats fans well as they sit through Sipp’s innings this year. Most Astros fans are glad he’s gone (memories of 2016-17). I always thought he had the potential to be above-average out of the bullpen, but that he didn’t always apply himself.
Tony Sipp is the kinda guy who will be hurt by the 3-batter minimum rule coming in 2020.
He gets righties out too.
Unfortunately with the new stupid three batter rule, this may be the last contract he signs.
He’s 35 so that could be true anyway.
The Astros lost some quality inning from LH. Who are they counting on?
Don’t the new rules do away with Loogys?