Justus Sheffield’s promotion sits on horizon
TRENTON, NJ » Justus Sheffield had to shake off the cobwebs that came with a morning first pitch, but once he did, the lefthander settled into a second straight quality start.
The Yankees No. 3 prospect allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits and struck out eight over six solid innings even though he eventually ended up with a loss as the Thunder fell 4-2 to Harrisburg after they left the bases loaded in the ninth in the series final at Arm & Hammer Park on Wednesday.
“I was dazed,” Sheffield admitted in regard to the 10:45 a.m. start and rocky first inning in which the Senators plucked an unearned run thanks to two defensive errors behind him. “I was giving up hits and usually I’m like, ‘get angry or let’s go.’ I was giving up a hit today and I was just like, ‘oh well, whatever.’ I really didn’t start feel myself getting going until the fifth inning.”
After Harrisburg added a pair of runs (one unearned) in the fourth, Sheffield finished his six innings by retiring the final eight batter he faced, including five of his eight strikeouts.
“Early on my command wasn’t all there,” Sheffield said. “I was falling behind hitters a lot and then having to get myself back into the counts. That was one big thing that I did not like about my outing today. Other than that, I just stuck with it. I got back into attack mode.”
In his last three starts, Sheffield has 25 strikeouts against five walks in 17.2 innings. With his eight punch outs on Wednesday, he matched teammate Erik Swanson for the Eastern League lead at 30.
He sat between 91- 93 miles per hour with his fastball and mixed in a slider at 83-84 mph and a change-up at 84- 85 mph. He finished with 94 pitches (58 strikes).
Sheffield’s biggest issue has been command since he was selected by Cleveland in the first round of the 2014 draft and then later traded to the Yankees on July 31, 2016 as part of the Andrew Miller package.
He’s continuing to work on it and sliced his walks from 53 to 33 last season, although that did come in 27 fewer innings after a strained oblique knocked him out for a few weeks.
Most of his 11 walks this season came in his first start when he issued six free passes on a frigid night.
“For me it’s a feel thing,” said Sheffield, who has a 2.86 ERA and is limiting opponents to a .165 batting average. “If I threw a pitch before and maybe I’ll need to adjust my release point or take a deeper breath. It’s kind of hard to explain because you can definitely feel it if you cut the ball and it’s like I need to stay more on this one. It’s definitely a feel factor for me to be able to make the adjustment.”
How much longer will the 21-year- old remain in Double-A?
There are rumblings he’s close to a promotion to Triple-A and Scranton has an open rotation slot next Tuesday.