LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers prospect Andre Lipcius learned a lot about his swing last season.
The 23-year-old infielder was picked in the third round of the 2019 draft following three seasons at Tennessee. The COVID-19 pandemic canceled his 2020 season, making last year’s campaign his first full pro season.
Lipcius hit .243 in 116 games.
TRENDING: Tigers union rep Tucker Barnhart: Not trying to ‘make everybody pay every dollar’
“It was half mental, going through that grind,” said Lipcius, who crushed an opposite-field home run in Thursday’s intrasquad scrimmage at Joker Marchant Stadium. “Half was some mechanical things that, when I took so many swings over COVID, I didn’t realize I was changing. I accidentally fell into some bad habits. When I got up to Double-A, I got exposed.”
He also posted 22 doubles, four triples, 12 home runs, 59 RBIs, 51 walks and 98 strikeouts. The 6-foot-1, right-handed hitter chipped in a .321 on-base percentage and slugged .399.
Lipcius hit .277 with three homers in 22 games for High-A West Michigan, flashing above-average plate discipline, so the Tigers promoted him to Double-A Erie at the end of May. He hit .235 with nine homers, 39 walks and 82 strikeouts in 94 games for the SeaWolves.
LEARNING FROM RIBAS: A lesson in pitch-grip manipulation with Gabe Ribas and rising Tigers prospect
NEW BROMANCE: Tigers prospects Jackson Jobe and Izaac Pacheco have formed fast friendship
In Erie, Lipcius struggled in the batter’s box.
“It’s just the adjustability of the swing,” Lipcius said. “I was getting really stuck in my front side and wasn’t able to adjust to those (Double-A) pitches. Even though I saw them, my swing wasn’t allowing me to do as much damage as I could.
“The confidence of doing some things wrong and still being relatively successful at the level is something to definitely build on. Now, I feel even better. I can hit a lot more range of pitches being more adjustable and getting my body to move right.”
[ Beau Brieske has been most impressive pitcher in minicamp. Here’s why ]
Lipcius made 62 starts at third base and 53 at second last season, with 13 errors and a .962 fielding percentage. First base and shortstop are familiar positions, too.
Lipcius has been retraining his body’s lower half in minicamp to adapt to a new pre-pitch defensive setup. Infield coordinator Billy Boyer, a former minor-league player, is providing the lessons.
“With any instruction, you just got to be open to change and open to opportunity,” Lipcius said. “You never know, something could click. As long as you try everything, it doesn’t hurt. We’re going to keep working on it. I like it so far, and I think it can definitely help.”
Defensive versatility could be Lipcius’ ticket to his MLB debut.
“No matter what, defense doesn’t slump,” Lipcius said. “I take a lot of pride in defense. I know how important it is. It wins games and loses games. I work a lot on being good really good at multiple positions, and I think I showed that last year. … The more ways you can get to the place you want to go, I think the better chance you got.”
VETERAN’S CONFIDENCE: Ex-Red Sox in Tigers’ camp is banking on big things from Javier Baez, Cristian Santana
MLB LOCKOUT: Once MLB returns, Matt Manning will show he has ‘all the tools’ to help Tigers
To clean up his hitting mechanics, Lipcius first had to switch his offseason residency after the 2021 season. Previously stationed in Virginia, he moved to North Carolina and trained at X2 Baseball, founded by former No. 6 overall draft pick Luke Hagerty.
Lipcius revamped his swing at the Concord-based facility with two teammates in the Tigers’ farm system: 23-year-old infielder Corey Joyce and 24-year-old outfielder Bryant Packard.
“I changed movement patterns,” Lipcius said. “I shortened up a little bit to be able to rotate a lot easier and more fluid, so I have more control of landing and staying behind the ball. Just being able to be adjustable. I lost that last year. I can see the pitches, but it’s just being able to hit those pitches that you see.”
The swing changes have translated to minor-league minicamp in Lakeland, where Lipcius is gearing up for his second full season as a professional. He is the Tigers’ No. 22 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.
[ How Tigers’ Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene feel about MLB lockout, canceled games ]
To open the 2022 season, Lipcius appears lined up for a rematch with Double-A pitching.
And he needs to hit if he wants to advance to Triple-A Toledo.
“I think everything happens for a reason,” Lipcius said. “Having that setback has made me stronger mentally and showed me some things going in the wrong direction that I was able to change, and it’ll set me on course for my career.
“There’s always going to be setbacks in life. There’s never going to be an easy road. Having those things I can learn from are really important. I’m just thankful for where I’m at.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.