Yankees’ top pitching prospect Justus Sheffield was originally scheduled to start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday night against Buffalo. But plans quickly changed.
Instead, the 22-year-old left-hander was scratched and listed as a reliever on the RailRiders lineup card, and according to YES Network’s Jack Curry, the Yankees are in the process of preparing Sheffield for a major league bullpen role once rosters expand in September. He will reportedly make three or four relief appearances.
In 20 combined starts (108.2 total innings) between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A this season, Sheffield owns a 2.48 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and .196 batting average-against. Since June 27, he’s allowed nine runs and 32 hits across 38 innings (eight starts) with 37 strikeouts.Â
In Sheffield’s most recent start on August 15, he gave up four hits, five walks, and four runs in just 1.2 innings of work.
According to MLBPipeline, Sheffield is the No. 27 overall prospect in baseball.
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