Capsules of American League West teams, listed in order of finish last year:___Houston Astros2017: 101-61, first place, won World Series.Manager: A.J. Hinch (fourth season).He's Here: RHP Gerrit Cole, RHP Joe Smith, RHP Hector Rondon.He's Outta Here: DH Carlos Beltran, RHP Luke Gregerson, RHP Joe Musgrove, RHP Mike Fiers, RHP Michael Feliz, INF Colin Moran.Projected Lineup: CF George Springer (.283, 34 HRs, 85 RBIs), 3B Alex Bregman (.284, 19, 71, 39 2Bs), 2B Jose Altuve (MLB-best .346, 24, 81, 39 2Bs, 32 SBs, AL MVP), SS Carlos Correa (.315, 24, 84), 1B Yuli Gurriel (.299, 18, 75, 43 2Bs), LF Marwin Gonzalez (.303, 23, 90, 34 2Bs), DH Evan Gattis (.263, 12, 55), RF Josh Reddick (.314, 13, 82, 34 2Bs), C Brian McCann (.241, 18, 62).Rotation: LH Dallas Keuchel (14-5, 2.90 ERA, 251 Ks), RH Justin Verlander (15-8, 3.36, 219 Ks with Tigers and Astros), RH Gerrit Cole (12-12, 4.26, 196 Ks with Pirates), RH Lance McCullers Jr. (7-4, 4.25), RH Charlie Morton (14-7, 3.62).Key Relievers: RH Ken... [More]

LHP Tony Sipp was reinstated from the disabled list after missing 28 games with right calf soreness. Sipp was 0-1 with a 6.47 ERA over 38 appearances before landing on the DL on Aug. 1. He made three rehab outings with Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Fresno, allowing one run over three innings.

LHP Tony Sipp was sent on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Fresno. Sipp landed on the 10-day disabled list on Aug. 1 with right calf soreness. He made an appearance with Double-A Corpus Christi on Tuesday night but Hurricane Harvey forced Sipp to relocate to Fresno for his next outing.

LHP Tony Sipp was sent on a rehab assignment to with the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks. Sipp was placed on the 10-day disabled list Aug. 2 with right calf soreness. Sipp had scuffled badly of late, allowing four home runs while posting an 0-1 record and 21.21 ERA over his last six appearances.

LHP Tony Sipp was placed on the 10-day disabled list with right calf soreness. Sipp had scuffled badly of late, allowing four home runs while posting an 0-1 record and 21.21 ERA over his last six appearances. Sipp had lowered his season ERA to 3.95 before his most recent slump.

LHP Tony Sipp has been scuffling this season and didn't have a good outing Sunday, either. Sipp gave up a grand slam to Detroit LF Justin Upton along with a sacrifice fly and allowed five runs while getting just one out in the seventh inning. "Once you get ahead (in the count), you've got to put hitters away," manager A.J. Hinch said. "That goes not just for Tony but for all pitchers. It's very simple to say but hard to execute against major league talent. When you get ahead, it's trying to expand the strike zone to get them to hit your pitch. When you let them back in the count, they can do a little bit of damage. A rough inning for him."

LHP Tony Sipp struck out three of the four batters he faced, all swinging, and has posted 13 scoreless appearances in his last 17 games, posting a 2.45 ERA with 15 strikeouts during that span of 14 2/3 innings. Sipp entered in relief of starter Doug Fister with two outs in the sixth inning.

LHP Tony Sipp was activated from paternity leave on Saturday. He missed just one day.

LHP Tony Sipp was placed on paternity leave for the birth of his second child, a daughter. Sipp is expected to return to the club on Saturday. On Friday night, the Astros played the Mariners without any left-handers in their bullpen.

LHP Tony Sipp was placed on paternity leave and RHP Michael Feliz was recalled from Triple-A Fresno. Sipp, expecting the birth of his second child, is the lone southpaw in the Houston bullpen, a fact that presents a bit of concern against the Mariners and their seven left-handed hitters. Feliz was optioned after the conclusion of the series with the Twins on Wednesday night.

LHP Tony Sipp and the Astros finalized a three-year, $18 million free agent contract Friday.Sipp was stellar for Houston last season with 62 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings and a 1.99 ERA.Houston acquired closer Ken Giles from the Phillies on Wednesday with a mission of shoring up a bullpen that imploded in the playoffs last season. Sipp is the lone lefty in the group anchored by Giles and RHPs Luke Gregorson and Pat Neshek.

LHP Tony Sipp and the Astros agreed to a three-year, $18 million free agent contract Thursday.Sipp was stellar for Houston last season with 62 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings and a 1.99 ERA.Houston acquired closer Ken Giles from the Phillies on Wednesday with a mission of shoring up a bullpen that imploded in the playoffs last season. Sipp is the lone lefty in the group anchored by Giles and RHPs Luke Gregorson and Pat Neshek.

Sipp (oblique) returned to the mound Sunday, striking out the only batter he faced.

Sipp missed an extended period of time due to back and oblique issues, but he finally returned to the mound Sunday, and he should be good to go moving forward.

Sipp (oblique) is set to rejoin the Astros this weekend, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Sipp came out of a Wednesday bullpen session feeling fine, so he will join the Astros for their next series in Los Angeles. It's not yet clear when Sipp will make his next appearance for the big club however.

Sipp has a back/oblique concern and will go for further tests this weekend, the Houston Chronicle's Evan Drellich reports.

It sounds like Sipp won't be available Friday, and possibly through the rest of the weekend. The Astros have plenty of bullpen reinforcements after roster expansion so they should be able to manage without Sipp in the short term.

Sipp struck out three over two scoreless innings during Monday's 8-2 loss to the Rays.

The veteran southpaw has been excellent out of the bullpen for the Astros this season, posting a 2.23 ERA and 0.95 WHIP with a 46:11 K:BB ratio over 44.1 innings.

Sipp (2-4) took his fourth loss of the season in relief after giving up a two-run homer to Hanley Ramirez during Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Red Sox.

Sipp opened 2015 with a 0.79 ERA through 10 appearances in April, but he has allowed runs in nine of 23 appearances since then. The veteran southpaw maintains a respectable 3.26 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, however, with a 33:7 K:BB ratio over 30.1 innings.

Sipp (2-2) took his second loss of the season in relief after giving up a home run to Chris Davis during Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Orioles.

Sipp entered a tie game with one out in the bottom of eighth inning to play the lefty-on-lefty match up against Chris Davis. Davis is hitting .303 against left-handed pitching this year, however, and drove the first pitch he saw from the veteran reliever 436 feet over the wall in right center field. Despite allowing a home run in each of his last two appearances for the Astros, Sipp still sports a 1.53 ERA this season.

Sipp (2-1) took the loss in relief after giving up a walk-off solo home run to James McCann in the 11th inning of Thursday's 6-5 loss to the Tigers.

Making his third appearance in three days for the Astros, Sipp didn't record an out in the game while his ERA doubled from 0.53 to 1.06 this season. Coming into Thursday, the veteran southpaw hadn't allowed an earned run in a game since April 11.

Sipp struck out both batters he faced to earn his sixth hold of the season Wednesday against the A's.

The Astros were leading 3-1 when Sipp entered the game with a runner on second base and one out in the eighth inning, and he struck out Stephen Vogt and Mark Canha to prevent the run from scoring. He lowered his ERA to 0.53 with the scoreless appearance.