Yankees top pitching prospect Justus Sheffield promoted to Triple-A

 

Yankees’ top pitching prospect Justus Sheffield has been promoted from Double-A Trenton to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, VP of baseball operations Tim Naehring told YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits on Thursday. 

Sheffield, a 21-year-old left-hander who is ranked the No. 3 prospect in the Yankees’ farm system by MLBPipeline, completed five starts in Double-A and posted a 2.25 ERA. In his last start (Tuesday vs. Double-A Red Sox), he tossed six shutout innings and struck out nine hitters. 

“He’s going to continue to develop, work on the fastball command. But when you go watch him pitch, he’s a competitor,” Naehring said of Sheffield. “He’s a type of guy that you almost have to just hold the reins back on him a little bit. When the game heats up, he’s so competitive that sometimes that plays against him… We all felt the Double-A experience was good for him. He obviously competed and was doing well there. So, it was good to see him move on.”

On Wednesday, Aaron Boone told WFAN radio that left-handed starter Jordan Montgomery was placed on the disabled list with a left elbow strain, and he could be out for 6-8 weeks.

In the meantime, 25-year-old rookie right-hander Domingo German will take Montgomery’s spot in the rotation. Although the Yankees only have one left-handed starter now (CC Sabathia), Naehring wouldn’t comment on the possibility of Sheffield reaching the majors at some point this season. 

“These young men will tell us. History says that there’s going to be need for a number of arms, so hopefully he puts himself in a position that he’s talked about,” Naehring said. “That left-handed power arm — and again, I’ve mentioned to you multiple times about investing in our own future — it’s really nice to see young kids here that we know are going to be part of the nucleus moving forward. So when they do struggle, we’re learning from those times. And like I said, they’re going to be part of the core as we move forward.”

YANKEES-RED SOX SERIES ACROSS THE POND?

According to a report from the Associated Press, Major League Baseball plans to announce next week that the Yankees and Boston Red Sox will play a two-game series at London’s Olympic Stadium in June next season. The Red Sox will reportedly be the home team for this first regular season MLB series in Europe.

 

If you want to connect with Tom Hanslin, email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @tomhanslin.