Longtime big leaguer Bell ready to lead Thunder
TRENTON » If Thunder fans want to get a glimpse at top pitching prospects Justus Sheffield and Domingo Acevedo then best get out to Arm & Hammer Park early in the season.
If you wait too long, these two highly-rated hurlers may be on their way to the Bronx by then.
For now the dynamic duo makes up a Thunder rotation which features three of the Yankees organization’s top 11 prospects.
“It’s one of those things we’ve built our organization upon,” said new manager Jay Bell, who steps up from High-A Tampa to replace Bobby Mitchell, the skipper with the winningest two-year window in club history. “We’ve thrived in that area and last year because of the success we had as an organization there’s no doubt that the reason we had it was because of pitching.”
Acevedo is scheduled to get the ball in Thursday’s season opener against Richmond followed by Sheffield and Dillon Tate. According to MLB Pipeline, Acevedo is the Yankees’ No. 9 prospect, Sheffield is No. 3 and Tate is No. 11.
Sheffield, a 21-year-old southpaw, is the most intriguing player on the Thunder’s roster for as long as he’s around.
At a tick under six-feet tall, he’s not a menacing-looking guy, but his mid-90s fastball, slider and change-up make him one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball.
“This being my second spring training, I was a little bit more comfortable,” said Sheffield, who came over in a 2016 trade with the Cleveland Indians and quickly struck up a friendship with CC Sabathia, the veteran left-hander, who, like Sheffield, started his career in the Cleveland organization.
“Just having those guys in that locker room, it’s going to be a good team just by the way they interact with the young guys,” Sheffield said. “You see it now, young guys going up right from the rip and it’s going to be a good team just because of the team chemistry.”
Sheffield said Sabathia talked to him about adding a back-foot slider to his repertoire and it’s a pitch you can expect to see the youngster trot out when he toes the rubber for the first time on Friday.
“I thought maybe working that into it and getting a different angle from the hitter’s eyes and going at it like that,” he said.
Sheffield posted a 7-6 record with a 3.18 ERA in 17 starts for the Thunder last season, but missed some time with a strained oblique (remember bubble guts).
To combat that the Tullahoma, Tenn., native said he’s added some stability work to his core with the ultimate goal to remain healthy all season.
“I want to pitch a lot of innings and get deep into games,” said Sheffield, who fanned 82 and walked 33 in 93.1 innings last season.
To accomplish that he has to get outs by any means necessary, something he walked away from spring training keenly aware of.
“Not really focusing on how to get them or the execution of the right way or wrong ways to get them, (but) I think the thing is to get the outs, finish off innings, finish off batters,” Sheffield said. “Just because when you move up and pitch against the A-team lineups in spring training you kind of second guess yourself at times because you’re facing higherup hitters or big-league hitters.
“It really boils down to executing your pitches and getting outs and not thinking about the way you get them.”
Acevedo, meanwhile, is coming off a career-high 133 innings over 23 starts spilt between three levels. The 6-7, 250-pound right-hander made the bulk of those starts (14) with the Thunder where he went 5-1 with a 2.38 ERA and 82 strikeouts against 17 walks in 79.1 innings.
He was shut down before the end of the season after hitting his innings limit and had to watch the Thunder’s playoff run from the dugout.
“I feel really good for this year,” Acevedo said. “There are going to be some limits on innings, but I’m going to have more than last year. I’m going to try to keep healthy to play all season.”
Acevedo, 24, said he has around 80-85 pitches in him for Thursday’s season opener, and he won’t be negatively impacted by the chilly early April temperatures.
“I like it cold,” he said. “I sweat a lot. You don’t feel tired in the cold. Not too much ... 40-45 (degrees) is good.”
Tate, 23, arrived in a trade with the Rangers and 2017 and worked his way up to Double-A after he went 6-0 with a 2.62 ERA in nine starts for HighA Tampa. He went 1-2 with a 3.24 ERA in four starts for the Thunder.
Bell said Double-A veteran Will Carter and Brian Keller will round out the rotation with Erik Swanson (acquired in the same trade with Tate) also serving as a capable starter.