UNFINISHED: JUSTUS SHEFFIELD
Justus Sheffield Harnesses ‘Exceptional Stuff’ to Take Step Forward in 2019
The turning point in Justus Sheffield’s 2019 season wasn’t on a mound at T-Mobile Park or even Cheney Stadium in Tacoma or Dickey–Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
It was on a flight to Arkansas after Sheffield had been transferred from Triple-A to Double-A. When Sheffield’s path to the Major Leagues took a detour — North Little Rock by way of Tacoma — he used it as a learning experience to help him get back to T-Mobile Park.
“I think it was the flight when I was going down to Arkansas honestly,” Sheffield said of when it clicked for him. “It was a rough patch early on in Triple-A. When I went down there, I took it for what it was. I took a step back for me to take a step forward. That was huge for me to get through that hurdle.”
The 23-year-old entered the season with much acclaim. After being acquired from the Yankees as the centerpiece in a 4-player deal that sent James Paxton to New York, Sheffield was ranked as the Mariners №1 prospect, according to both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. In 2018, he was selected to the U.S. roster for the Futures Game and was named to Baseball America’s Minor League All-Star Team.
In Spring Training with the Mariners, he made just 2 Cactus League appearances but struck out 6 in 4.0 scoreless innings. Midway through the spring, he was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma.
It was a rough year to be a pitcher in the Pacific Coast League — two qualifying pitchers finished the season with a sub-4.00 ERA — and Sheffield was no exception. Sandwiched around his Mariners debut on April 26 vs. the Rangers, Sheffield made 13 uneven appearances with the Rainiers. He posted a record of 2–6 with a 6.87 ERA. On June 14, he was transferred to Double-A Arkansas.
“Going through that, I think that really tested my character and tested what I’m about,” Sheffield said. “that’s just another learning curve.”
All he did was dominate Double-A batters on his way to earning a call-up to the big leagues.
Get Mariners PR’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Sheffield worked at least 6.0 innings in 10 of his 12 starts with the Travelers and allowed 3 or fewer earned runs in 11 of 12 starts. As Arkansas cruised to the best record in the Texas League this season, Sheffield led the way on the mound, going 5–3 with a 2.19 ERA while striking out 85 and walking only 18 in 78.0 innings of work. Following the Double-A season, he was named a Texas League Post-Season All-Star.
“When he went back to Arkansas, things really changed,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “First of all, he was with a bunch of players the same age as him. He could get back to the things he was really good at. Number one, throwing strikes, and trusting his fastball. Get his slider going, and develop his changeup. Watching how he progressed there and hearing the reports, I knew he was going to get called up by the end of the year.”
The southpaw from Tullahoma, TN, rejoined the Mariners on August 23 and made 7 starts with the club over the last 5 weeks of the season. He worked at least 5.0 innings and allowed 1 or fewer earned runs in 3 of those 7 starts.
On first glance, Sheffield’s start on September 15 vs. the White Sox was unspectacular: 6 runs allowed on 7 hits and 1 walk while striking out 8 in 4.1 innings. But on second look, it was an impressive showing from the former 2014 1st round draft pick. Sheffield struck out the first 4 batters he faced, and among them were 2019 American League batting champion Tim Anderson and 2019 AL RBI leader Jose Abreu. In fact, he retired the first 10 batters he faced, 6 via punchouts.
“He’s a fighter,” Mariners General Manager Jerry Dipoto said. “He gets out there and he competes. He’s a teammate. It takes young pitchers a little bit of time. Everybody wants it in one inning or three innings or five innings. It’s just going to take Justus a little bit of time to harness what he has, but what he has is exceptional.”
Sheffield will spend the offseason in the Nashville area and plans to workout at Vanderbilt University, along with the likes of former Vandy pitchers David Price and Sonny Gray.
“Looking forward to a big offseason, ready to come back stronger and ready to come back and help this team turn things around and get to the final goal,” Sheffield said. “Refining my fastball command and continuing to work on throwing my changeup. It’s a huge improvement so continuing to work on that and continuing to throw my slider, which has been my bread-and-butter this year.”
On September 2 against the Cubs, that slider yielded the most swings-and-misses on a slider of any Mariners pitcher in a game over the last 5 seasons. A lineup that featured Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Nicholas Castellanos swung and missed 14 times — to be exact — on Sheffield’s slider that afternoon at Wrigley Field.
In 2018, Sheffield was the 2nd-youngest pitcher in the American League. A year later at 23 years of age, he was still the 19th-youngest pitcher to make a start in the AL this season. He joins a stable of young starting pitchers who appeared with the Mariners in 2019, highlighted by 27-year-old Marco Gonzales, 28-year-old Yusei Kikuchi and 23-year-old Justin Dunn. And there’s more on the way with the likes of Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and others.
“Justus has exceptional stuff,” Dipoto said. “He’s still learning who he is as a pitcher, but it’s three above-average weapons. A fastball that touches 96, a slider that misses bats, an improving changeup, and a hyper competitive style on the mound. We’re really excited where his ceiling is.”
