Staten Island’s Vin Timpanelli’s Climb to Pitching Success After Transferring Colleges

Staten Island native and former Tottenville High School baseball player Vin Timpanelli  manned the catcher position at Division II St. Thomas Aquina when he decided to make a move.

Since he was not getting enough playing time, Timpanelli transferred to D III Ramapo College in New Jersey, in his senior year. There, he began his journey to pitching, tossing just 0.2 innings with two strikeouts and no runs. A seed was planted from there.

“I always wanted to do it (play professionally),” Timpanelli recalled. “I went to a D2 school. “Then, I went to D III Ramapo College. Then, my thinking started to shift. My senior year at Ramapo, I started to pitch. I just wanted to see if I wanted to pitch. Then COVID happened, and I spent my whole time learning how to pitch.”

Fortunately for him, it worked out, armed with a 95 MPH heater. He eventually signed a free agent contract with the Cincinnati Reds’ organization in mid-August of 2020.

“It (COVID-19) definitely helped me have the ability to learn how to pitch on my own,” said Timpanelli, who has developed a four-pitch arsenal: a four-seam fastball, curveball, sinker, and is working on a change-up.

However, Timpanelli did not pitch professionally in 2020 due to COVID-19.

But Timpanelli came back and threw 45.1 frames between the Reds’ Low-A (Daytona Tortugas) and High-A (Dayton Dragons) affiliates in the 2021 seasons, recording a 2.98 ERA and 14 saves between both stops.

He reached as high as the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts the next year, as well as 2023 and 2024 before he asked the Reds’ organization to release him due to inactivity somewhere in the middle of the season.

“To me, a 25-year-old sitting on the inactive list didn’t do me any good,” Timpanelli lamented. “So, I asked to be released. I’m not playing minor league baseball just to play minor league baseball.”

Overall, Timpanelli sported a decent 4.32 ERA in 166.2 innings in the minors over four seasons in Cincinnati’s system.

But it did not take the now-Naperville, Ill., resident long to hook up with the Kane County Cougars, a member of the competitive American Association, an MLB Partner League. There, he posted a 1-2 mark with a 2.70 ERA in 20 innings of relief work, helping the Cougars capture the 2024 American Association Championship.

Timpanelli returned to the Kane County fold this year and was also the starting pitcher in the team’s opener of the Baseball Champions League in April in Mexico, where he threw two scoreless innings in the club’s victory.

Also, he was the starting pitcher (spot start) in a combined no-hitter against the Lincoln Saltdogs earlier this month after tossing seven scoreless frames for the Cougars. Plus, the American Association named him Pitcher of the Week for the week ending on Sunday, June 1st.

Timpanelli is 2-3 with a 4.60 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings for the Cougars thus far, not including tonight’s game.

Timpanelli said he could not be happier with the way things are working out for him in Kane County.

“I love it here. It’s a unique professional experience,” Timpanelli said. “It’s all about winning, and the fans treat us great. It makes a difference, a lot of difference, to play in front of great fans.”

As far as returning to affiliated ball and beyond, he said he does not stress over it too much. Timpanelli just goes out, displays a passion for the sport, and does his best to deliver top results.

“You can’t play to try and get picked up,” he explained. “You just have to play for the love of the game, as cliche as that sounds. You can’t go half in on training and effort, too. You have to love it.”

And there is no doubt that Timpanelli’s fervent desire to succeed will serve him well in his future on the bump.

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— Jerry Del Priore

Photos: Kane County Cougars.