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Los Angeles Dodgers Top Ten Prospects For 2017

By Benjamin Chase

Sep 11, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap is seen on the dugout steps with an american flag prior to the game against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 11, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap is seen on the dugout steps with an american flag prior to the game against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
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8. Jordan Sheffield, RHP

Birthdate: 6/1/95 (21 years old)
Level(s) Played in 2016: rookie, low A
Stats in 2016: 12 IP, 3.75 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 11.76 BB%, 25.49 K%

The older brother of Justus Sheffield, he and his brother may have found themselves in two of the game’s most storied franchises (along with two of the game’s best farm systems currently).

Jordan was a guy who looked to be an early first round selection coming out of high school before Tommy John surgery at the end of his senior season of high school. He also had a similar look this spring before a rough finish to his collegiate season bumped him back to the supplemental first round, where the Dodgers were happy to snap him up.

Sheffield has a definite plus-plus fastball

Sheffield has a definite plus-plus fastball, a true 70 grade pitch that plays up even further due to the movement he gets on it. He works that with a slurvy pitch that breaks more like a slider in the zone, but has some pre-zone loop like a curve, however, it is much more effective than the traditional slurve.

Sheffield has a change that graded anywhere from above-average to plus-plus in talking with scouts, and many feel that, and health, will ultimately determine his future path, whether as a starter or reliever.

Sheffield’s small stature (listed at 6′ and 185, but considered smaller on both accounts) is what has many worried for his future arm health due to the amount of force generated to reach near triple digits with his fastball. However, pitchers like Marcus Stroman have shown that small stature alone does not mean certain arm issues.

Sheffield will likely start at either low- or high-A, but if he can show the starter that he was in early 2016 in college, he’ll leap up the system in a hurry.

Next: #7

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