Yankees: Justus Sheffield to begin MLB career in the bullpen

The Yankees No.1 prospect and No. 27 overall in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, Justus Sheffield, will be in New York on Tuesday when the Red Sox come to town.

For the vast majority of his minor league career, 22-year-old Justus Sheffield has been a starting pitcher. After 20 starts this season (15 at Triple-A), the Yankees moved the left-hander to the bullpen in late August to prepare him as a reliever at the big league level.

Not that the Yanks see Sheffield as a future relief pitcher. No, the organization still has all intentions of him potentially winning a rotation spot in Spring Training 2019.

After-all, Sheffield put up solid stats in his first go-around at the highest level of minor league ball: 6-4 with a 2.56 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, .204 BAA, and an 84:36 K:BB ratio in 88 innings pitched (12.1 innings as a reliever).

Unfortunately, his move to the ‘pen finished a bumpy one. In Game 5 of the International League Governors’ Cup on Saturday versus the Durham Bulls, Sheffield allowed three earned runs on two hits, while also hitting two batters in relief of Domingo German. The RailRiders would go on to lose 6-2.

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As Sheffield told NJ.com, it took some time for him to transition to becoming a reliever mentally, but understood the organization had a reason for keeping him in the minors despite major league rosters expanding to 40 on Sept. 1.

"“The transition to the bullpen, obviously, I knew there was something going on there,” Sheffield said. “So it was hard for me to block it out and do my thing. When I did, I felt back to myself. It was one of those things where it was hard to block out.”"

Since Sheffield isn’t yet on the 40-man roster, the Yanks will need to make a corresponding move, which could very well be 25-year-old reliever Stephen Tarpley, who has failed to impress in his first big league opportunity.

With 14 regular season games remaining for the Yankees — and only a 1.5 game lead over the Athletics for the first Wild Card spot, it will be interesting to see how or if manager Aaron Boone uses the highly-regarded prospect.

A positive first experience for Sheffield can go a long way in building the confidence needed to succeed against the best hitters in the world. However, with Aroldis Chapman expected to return before the playoffs begin, it’s unlikely Sheffield is added to the Postseason roster.