4. Justus Sheffield, LHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 5/13/96 (21)
2017 teams/levels played for: Gulf Coast League Yankees West, AA Trenton Thunder
2017 Stats: 19 GS, 98 IP, 3.12 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 8% BB, 20.8% K
Info: The Indians took Justus Sheffield out of high school in Tennessee in the 1st round, 31st overall. His small size (5’11”, 175-180 at draft) was a big worry for most teams in seeing him stay healthy long term. The New York Yankees got him as part of the return for Andrew Miller.
Sheffield has filled out to roughly 200-210 pounds, but he does tend to miss short spurts each season, though he has avoided the big stuff each time, like a Tommy John surgery or a torn knee ligament or something like that.
The Yankees hope to get the AFL version of Sheffield going forward.
The violence and inconsistency of Sheffield’s delivery is the biggest thing that leads to worry for scouts on Sheffield. Due to being under 6′, he also struggles to get good plane on his pitches, which has led to struggles throwing consistent strikes as well.
When he’s at his best, Sheffield can bring it with a fastball sitting 92-95 that can touch 97-98. He has a slider with incredible break and a change.
Sheffield has the potential to be a dominant reliever if he cannot get things figured out as a starter. Those watching Sheffield in the Arizona Fall League this season got to see the type of starter that Sheffield could be at this top end. The Yankees hope to get the AFL version of Sheffield going forward.
He will open with AAA most likely in 2018, and the New York Yankees would like to see him get a full season of healthy starts under his belt.
3. Chance Adams, RHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 8/10/94 (23)
2017 teams/levels played for: AA Trenton Thunder, AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders
2017 Stats: 27 GS, 150 1/3 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 9.6% BB, 22.3% K
Info: Coming from Dallas Baptist in the 5th round in 2015, Adams was part of a staff that featured multiple hard throwers, but most of them also projected more as relievers than as starters, including Adams, who hadn’t started until his final year of college.
The New York Yankees have had as much success with Adams’ transition into a starter as they have with any other pitcher in recent memory. Adams is a guy who isn’t the physical size of your ideal pitching prospect at 6’1″ and 200-215 pounds, but he has the type of mentality you want in a starter, attacking hitters and working for early swings from hitters to keep his pitch count low and allow him to get deep into ballgames.
Adams works with a fastball that sits in the 92-94 range in games I watched this season, but he can run up to 97-98, and the quick, intentional delivery he has on the mound doesn’t give a hitter a lot of time to think about the pitch from the time Adams gets going in his motion. He also gets interesting vertical movement on the pitch, able to flatten the pitch’s drop, making it appear to “rise”.
Adams works with a fringe-plus slider, average curve, and fringe average change that give him an excellent overall repertoire on the mound, and he’s really taken well to mixing things up on the mound.
Adams could make a push for an Opening Day rotation spot, but he’ll most likely open the season in AAA, being the first call up when there is a starter needed.
Next: #1 and #2