Andre Lipcius is the exact type of player that Harold Uhlman would write about.
Andre Lipcius was born May 22, 1998 to Rochelle and Romuald Lipcius. Andre has a fraternal twin brother, Luc, who was also an accomplished baseball player.
Lipcius went to Lafayette High School in Williamsburg, Virginia where he lettered in baseball four years. In his senior season, Andre hit .462 with four home runs, 21 RBI and a 6-2 record on the mound. He was ranked as the #3 SS and #19 overall player in Virginia by Perfect Game, the world’s largest baseball scouting service.
As a junior, Andre earned Underclass High Honorable Mentions accolades after helping his school to a 3A State Championship title, hitting .390 on the year and pitching a complete game to seal the state championship for Lafayette.
Lipcius committed to The University of Tennessee along with his fraternal twin brother, Luk. Andre was in the Opening Day lineup for Tennessee, starting at 1B. He was one of four true freshman to start that day. He started each of the 52 games at 1B for Tennessee. He was the only Vol to start and play in each of the 52 games.
Lipcius began his collegiate career by reaching base safely in 21 straight contests for Tennessee. For his freshman season, Andre hit .275 with a team-best 11 doubles, two triples, one homer and 26 RBIs. He was charged with just four errors over 470 chances. Andre and Luc became the first-known set of twins to start for the Volunteers in school history.
For his efforts, Andre was named to the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Freshman All American team, and was named to the SEC All Freshman team.
Andre moved to SS for the start of his sophomore season against Maryland in the 2018 opener. He started 55 of 56 games at SS, leading the Vols with a .315 average, 7 HR, 42 RBI, and 96 total bases. He had 64 hits including 11 doubles. He led the Vols with 19 multi-hit games, including eight games with three or more, and 10 games with multiple RBIs.
As a junior in 2019, Andre moved to 3B where he started a played in 61 games, averaging .308 with a team-leading 17 home runs and 58 RBIs. Had also had a team-high 73 hits with 15 doubles.
Lipcius helped the Vols advance to the Chapel Hill Regional Championship with a win over Liberty where he went 3-for-5 with two runs batted in.
In addition to his Freshman Honors, Andre garnered the following baseball accolades:
- 2019 ABCA/Rawlings South All-Region Second Team
- SEC Player of the Week (5/13)
- Rated as No. 56 overall 2019 MLB Draft Prospect by D1Baseball.com
- Rated as No. 17 2019 MLB Draft Prospect among SEC players by Baseball America
The Lipcius brothers were not just accomplished baseball players, but excelled in the classroom as well. Andre:
- Four-year honor roll & National Honor Society student at Lafayette High School
- Majored in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee.
- Recipient of the Halliday Family Men’s Athletic Scholarship Endowment
- Recipient of the James W. Robinson Scholarship Endowment
- Recipient of the Catherine & Paul Mountcastle Scholarship Fund
- Recipient of the Donald R. Carson Volunteer Family Scholarship
Luc:
- Member of the honor roll, math club & National Honor Society as a student at Lafayette High School
- Earned his bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Tickle College of Engineering in May of 2021
Andre became a 3rd round draft pick, 83rd overall, in 2019. He signed for $733,100. The average salary for a nuclear engineer is $107,600.
To put that in perspective, the Dodgers selected 4 players around Lipcius.
- 1st round – 25 overall – Kody Hoese
- 1st round – 31 overall – Michael Busch
- 2nd round – 78 overall – Jimmy Lewis (RHP)
- 3rd round – 102 overall – Ryan Pepiot
Andre was assigned to full season Low A West Michigan Whitecaps in the Midwest League (same as Great Lakes). For the season, in 283 PA, Lipcius hit .273/.344/.360/.704, with 2 HR and 16 doubles, 27 BB and 57 K. He primarily played 2B and 3B, with a few games at SS.
When the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the minor league season in 2020, Lipcius played with the Peninsula Pilots in the Coastal Plain League.
In 2021, Lipcius started the season again in West Michigan, but after the reonstruction of the affiliates, the Midwest League became a High A League.
On June 1, he received a call-up to the Double-A Erie SeaWolves. 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.
At Lake Erie, in 385 PA, Lipcius slashed .235/.312/.378/.690, with 18 doubles, 2 triples, 9 HR, and RBI. He had 39 RBI and 82 K. Defensively, he was just about evenly split at 2B and 3B.
In 2022, Andre started the season with Erie. On August 3, Lipcius was promoted to AAA Toledo Mud Hens. For the season:
- AA – 372 PA – .264/.392/.426/.818
- AAA – 188 PA – .302/.388/.453/.841
Combined, Lipcius slugged 12 HR with 33 doubles, and 2 triples. He improved his BB/K ratio with 86 BB and 89 K.
Lipcius was added to the 40 man roster after the 2022 season. He was optioned to Toledo to start the 2023 season. In 419 PA, Lipcius slashed .272/.363/.419/.782, with 16 doubles, 2 triples, 11 HR, 52 BB and 74 K.
On September 1, Andre was recalled to the Detroit Tigers and made his MLB debut as a PH against the CWS. In the 7th inning, Lipcius was sent up to hit for Riley Green against RHRP Lane Ramsey. Lipcius struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch. Lipcius stayed in the game and got a 9th inning AB, where he flew out to RF Oscar Colas.
On September 2, 2023, Lipcius got his first start against RHSP Mike Clevinger. In the top of the 1st inning, on a 1-2 slider from Clevinger, Lipcius drove the ball over the LF wall for a 2 run HR and a 4-0 Detroit lead, and his first MLB hit. The rest of the day? 0-4 with 3 K. But that first hit!!!!
First hit! FIRST HOMER!
Andre Lipcius will remember this one forever. pic.twitter.com/jwi4KzYxF7
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 2, 2023
Lipcius stayed with Detroit for the remainder of the year and in 38 PA, Lipcius hit .286/.342/.400/.742. He had 3 BB against 8 K.
Defensively, Lipcius is a true utility player. For his MiLB career:
- 3B – 194 games
- 2B – 145 games
- 1B – 34 games
- LF – 14 games
- SS – 9 games (none after 2019)
- RF – 1 game
- DH – 27 games
In 2022, with 50 PA, Miguel Vargas batted .170/.200/.255/.455 with 2 BB and 13 K. Vargas gets handed the 2B job after his start. Lipcius with a better start? He gets DFA’d by Detroit. Why? Because Detroit preferred utility player Buddy Kennedy who they picked up off waivers from St. Louis. This was the third time Kennedy had been DFA’d since September 6.
For his MLB career, in 123 PA, Kennedy is hitting .206/.293/.299/.592, with 1 HR, 12 BB and 29 K. Kennedy is 5 months younger than Lipcius and also plays primarily a utility role (3B, 2B, 1B, LF, DH).
Kennedy was a more impressive AAA player, but his numbers came at Reno, while Lipcius was at Toledo. Kennedy had only 5 HRs at Reno, which seems very pedestrian in that launching pad. During his time in the minors, Kennedy has primarily profiled as a hit-over-power utility guy. Over the past three years, he has made 1487 minor league plate appearances at various levels, walking in 13% of them while limiting his strikeouts to a 17.9% clip.
On March 4, the Dodgers had a spot on the 40 man available so they decided to give Lipcius an opportunity. He is certainly a candidate for DFA later in the season, but for now, the Dodgers have another utility player.
You always like competition, so I would expect both Lipcius and Austin Gauthier to be utility players at AAA. Gauthier will get more time at 2B while Lipcius will probably see more time at 3B, where he could split time with Kody Hoese. Hoese could also slide over to 1B and DH.
With his versatility, Andre Lipcius fits perfectly in the mold of the Dodgers.
Welcome to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Andre Lipcius.
Thanks for the info on the new Dodger.
It would be interesting to know how teams decide who to promote and who to discard. For whatever reason, the Tigers decided to discard Lipcius.
Dodger brass put a lot of faith in Vargas despite his weak showing in ’22 He was anointed as the new second baseman, denying Busch and others in camp a level playing field. Even after Vargas got hurt, there was no real competition.
And now, a year later, Vargas is an outfielder-in-training who has been surpassed by Pages. It will take a couple of injuries, probably, for Vargas to get back to LA.
Yes, sounds like Lipcius and Gauthier will compete for a UT role, while Sweeney is the SS–though he could also be a UT option. Noah Miller needs a little more seasoning.
From the highlights, it looked like Gauthier clanked a chance at 2B today. And Mookie needs to work on his DPs.
That said, did anyone else noticed the conversation between Mookie and Rojas after the first DP? Looked to me that Rojas messed up Mookie’s timing by waiting for him to get closer to the bag before he made the throw. My impression was that Mookie was telling him to throw it quicker so he could catch it, step on the base and then step past it to make an easier throw to first. The way it happened, Mookie was forced to make an awkward throw from the bag.
If Lux struggles, we could see a lot of Rojas at SS. Again.
Nice write up Jeff. MT seems to think the guy was brought in as a SS option. But as pointed out, he hasn’t played there in four years.
Dodgers only have one player who is out of options, Phillips, and he isn’t going to be sent to AAA anytime soon. But there are a lot of players out there who are out of options. I also think a guy like McFarland could sneak onto this roster over say Vesia, who has not looked great.
Wow, great piece. I understand the move more now.
Nationals signed Eddie Rosario, famous Dodger killer, to a minor league contract.
Great write up Jeff!
Love to hear about the background of players pursuing their dreams. Lipcius has achieved great things in college and been a versatile minor league player. Seems like a good candidate for a utility player at the MLB level someday or at least dependable depth at AAA. What a great moment for him to homer in his first start in the MLB!
Thanks for researching and sharing this information
I’m not sure if people discuss Will Smith’s extension as much as they do discuss the silly notion of him switching positions, but on the subject of extensions the Athletic takes a stab ($$$$) The suppose 5 years with a come of $82.5M, ($20M for his ’24 & ’25 arb years). Not sure if Smith goes for much lower than Realmuto, but it’s interesting.
https://theathletic.com/5319765/2024/03/06/mlb-extensions-bo-bichette-kyle-tucker/?source=user_shared_article
ALSO
Roberts said that Daniel Hudson will be in the bullpen. His opt-out date is March 15.
Dodgers will need to clear another 40-man spot. Another trade for prospect? My first thought was Frasso to the 60, but somebody on X said that has a negative impact on team control. Can someone help me out with that?
FINALLY
Pipeline updated its Dodgers top 30 today:
https://www.mlb.com/prospects/dodgers/
Of the list: Kendall George and Frasso seem high, and the player with one of my favorite names lands at 24.
Someone at TrueBlue did this and it’s awesome! They broke the list by ages. H/T to the person, 68elcamino427
AGE
17 / SS / Emil Morales (Rank 19)
17 / RHP / Jesus Tillero (30)
18 / SS /Joendry Vargas (13)
18 / OF / Eduardo Quintero (20)
18 / OF / Josue De Paula (4)
19 / OF / Zyhir Hope (21)
19 / OF / Kendall George (12)
19 / INF / Alexander Alburtis (24)
19 / OF / Samuel Munoz (25)
19 / RHP / Payton Martin (11)
19 / RHP / Hyun-Seok Jang (18)
20 / LHP / Jackson Ferris (8)
20 / C/1B / Thayron Liranzo (10)
21 / SS/2B / Noah Miller (27)
21 / C/2B / Yenier Frenandez (28)
21 / LHP / Ronan Kopp (17)
21 / LHP / Maddux Bruns (15)
22 / 3B / Jake Geloff (23)
22 / C / Diego Cartaya (9)
23 / C / Dalton Rushing (1)
23 / OF / Jose Ramos (29)
23 / OF / Andy Pages (3)
23 / LHP / Justin Wrobleski (16)
23 / SS / Trey Sweeny (22)
24 / INF/OF / Ausitn Gauthier (26)
25 / RHP / Nick Frasso (2)
25 / RHP / Gavin Stone (6)
25 / RHP / River Ryan (5)
25 / RHP / Kyle Hurt (7)
26 / RHP / Landon Knack (15)
Watching the Sox/Dodgers game today. Based on what I have seen from Lux in the 1st inning, it don’t look too good. Turned a fairly routine grounder into an infield hit because he buried his throw into the grass. Next batter, Muncy charges a ball and Lux stands around with his finger in his but and doesn’t cover third, runner advances from 2nd easily. Then that runner ends up scoring. Lux not only is messing up routine plays he is actually damaging his trade value the longer he is on the field. I think AF better be working that phone quickly and make a trade PDQ.
All of the Lux talk about being traded or should be moved off SS is hyperbolic and way too soon. He hasn’t played competitive baseball for over one year. Give him a break.
In yesterday’s game Mookie threw two double-play throws in the dirt that Freddie couldn’t scoop. Can give an error because a completed double play cannot be assumed. One of the poor throws resulted in a run scored on the next AB. Crap happens and Lux will be just fine.
Lipcius had a nice debut. Two hits before he struck out his last at bat. Karros was in the dugout again today. Looked a little scruffy with that facial hair.