“Focusing on My Strengths”: How Grant Kipp Has Excelled on the Mound this Season

June 27, 2023 by Sam Weiderhaft

The summer of 2022 will always be remembered by Grant Kipp.

There were three big life events that happened. One, he graduated from Yale, one of the United States’ premier academic institutions. Two, he got the opportunity to pitch in the Cape Cod Baseball League, the top collegiate summer-ball league in the country. And three, he signed a professional contract with the Chicago Cubs.

“It was the craziest summer of my life,” Kipp said.

He had just enrolled at Notre Dame for grad school when the Cubs called. The organization signed the 22-year-old as an undrafted free agent in early August of last year. He was assigned to Myrtle Beach a few days after and closed out the season with the Pelicans.

After five starts in 2022 with a start in the first game of the playoffs, Kipp came back to Myrtle Beach to start 2023. He posted a 5.93 ERA through four starts in April and walked 11 with 14 strikeouts through 13 2/3 innings.

After his first start in May against Columbia, where he gave up three earned runs across four innings to take the loss, something clicked. The now 23-year-old allowed just one earned run across his next four starts and 18 2/3 innings to finish with a May ERA of 1.59. He also cut his walks down to six with 24 strikeouts.

“In May, instead of focusing on opposing hitters’ weaknesses, just focusing on my strengths,” Kipp said. “My strengths have always been being able to throw multiple off-speed pitches that move well and for strikes. Just increasing the usage of my curveball and slider in general, then using my fastball and change-up as secondary pitches, that’s probably what changed the most.”

The success of Kipp along with the rest of the starting pitching staff propelled the Pelicans to the top spot in the division, and later a Carolina League South First-Half championship to clinch a playoff spot. The Birds ranked third in the Carolina League with a 3.56 team ERA and second in team strikeouts with 689 in the first half.

“It’s just fun to compete with not just the other team, but ourselves,” Kipp said, remembering a story where he told fellow Pelicans’ starter Brody McCullough that he wouldn’t beat Kipp’s eight strikeouts posted earlier that week. McCullough went on to punch-out nine in his start.

Myrtle Beach’s on-field success in the first half can largely be credited to their camaraderie off the field, held together by Kipp’s vibrant personality. Before games, only on non-start days, Kipp can be found challenging teammates to Mario Kart matches to keep things loose.

“Just being myself, being light-hearted,” Kipp said. “This is our job, it’s serious, but also we’re playing baseball for a living. You’ve got to take every day with a grain of salt and keep things light-hearted, especially around the guys in the clubhouse. My way of being a good teammate is trying to entertain people to the best that I can, and then every day that I get the start, try and give my team an opportunity to win.”

The Dallas native has continued to do just that, with wins in two of his three starts in June and a 2.57 ERA through 14 innings in the month. Despite being undrafted, Kipp knew performing like this was possible.

“Spring training went pretty well for me but the beginning of this year, the numbers weren’t quite there, honestly kind of started to doubt myself a little bit,” Kipp said. “But the pitching staff believed in me and the Cubs organization believed in me.”

Typically starting the first game of every series, Kipp will look to keep his wave of success rolling into the middle of the summer as the Pelicans move into the second half of the season.

“I still think there’s a lot of room to go for me and I expect a lot from myself but obviously very happy to be in the position I am.”