Justus Sheffield falters in Futures Game

All-Star break festivities officially kicked off this afternoon with the Futures Game. The World Team currently leads 3-1 in the top of the fourth inning. Although the game is far from over, the Yankees’ lone player is done for the day (and happens to be responsible for two of those runs).

Justus Sheffield, New York’s best pitching prospect, had mixed results during his outing today. Seuly Matias deposited his third pitch into the right field bullpen to tie the game. Sheffield also struck out Luis Arias, and induced two pop outs and a fly out. He was chased in the third inning after surrendering a single to Dawel Lugo. His final line was 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 K, 1 HR.

The left-hander started this season in Trenton, but quickly earned a promotion. He has pitched to a 2.53 ERA (3.13 FIP) with 8.84 K/9, 3.79 BB/9, and 0.32 HR/9 across 57 innings in Triple-A.

Sheffield’s name has been tossed around in trade rumors recently. The Orioles supposedly requested that he be included in a deal for Manny Machado, and it is said that Brian Cashman refused to do so. You can’t really blame him for not wanting to ship off the team’s top pitching prospect for a three-month rental. It is unlikely that he ends up in a trade this summer unless Cashman is somehow able to pry away an ace from somewhere. Given the Yankees’ need for starting pitching, we could even see Sheffield make his major league debut in the coming weeks.