Sprout was acquired by the Angels from the Detroit Tigers with the ninth selection in the 1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft.

On August 18, 1960, he set (and still holds) the Midwest League's single-game strikeout record, when he struck out 22 batters against the Waterloo Hawks.

[1] Sprout spent most of 1961 with the Angels' Triple-A farm team, the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers, and was recalled in September when the rosters expanded.

He made his only MLB appearance on September 27 as a starting pitcher against the American League's other expansion team, the Washington Senators, at Wrigley Field.

In four full innings pitched, he allowed four hits, three runs (two earned) and three bases on balls; he struck out two.