Sheffield turns into CC’s
TAMPA — Justus Sheffield is small — by major-league pitching standards, anyway.
The Yankees’ 20-year-old lefthanded prospect is listed at just 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds.
That may matter to some people, but it doesn’t matter to Sheffield, a 2014 first-round pick.
“A lot of people look down on me because of the size factor, but I don’t really let it bother me,” Sheffield said. “I can’t grow a foot tomorrow, so I am who I am. And that means going out there and being competitive, and that’s what I love about this game, getting to go out there and compete.
“I’m not going to have the hardest fastball. I’m not going to have the best slider. And I’m not going to have the best changeup. But I guarantee you I’ll give it my all every time I’m out there on the mound.”
The Yankees acquired Sheffield — and Clint Frazier — from the Indians at the trade deadline last season in the blockbuster deal that sent Andrew Miller to Cleveland. In 2016, Sheffield went 10-6 with a 3.09 ERA in mostly High-A.
On Sept. 2, Sheffield, whose fastball registers in the low-to-mid 90s, closed out his year by giving up an unearned run and striking out nine in four innings for DoubleA Trenton, where he is expected to begin his 2017 campaign.
Sheffield made his spring debut on Feb. 28 against the Red Sox, where he faced the likes of Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval and Jackie Bradley Jr.
“What I like about pitching is it’s 1 vs. 1. You’re facing a guy with a piece of wood in his hands, and you’re trying to get him out or throw it by him,” Sheffield said. “But the good thing is a lot of the time it’s not 1 vs. 1, you’ve got those guys behind you so you can rely