Justus Sheffield

Sheffield attended Tullahoma High School in Tullahoma, Tennessee. He threw two no-hitters while in high school, including a 17–strikeout game as a senior.^[1] He finished his senior season 11–0 with a 0.34 earned run average (ERA) and 131 strikeouts in 61+2⁄3 innings pitched. He also batted .405/.478/.620 with three home runs. For his play he was named the Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year.^[2][3][4] In June 2013, he was named to the USA Baseball 18 and under national team roster.^[5] The team won gold at the 2013 18U Baseball World Cup in Taichung, Taiwan.^[6] Sheffield committed to play college baseball at Vanderbilt University.^[7]

The Cleveland Indians selected Sheffield in the first round (31st overall) of the 2014 MLB draft, and he signed with Cleveland, bypassing Vanderbilt.^[8] In 2015, he pitched for the Lake County Captains of the Single–A Midwest League. He threw 127+2⁄3 innings, and had a 9-4 record and a 3.31 ERA and was a Midwest League Mid-Season All-Star.^[9][10] Sheffield began the 2016 season with the Lynchburg Hillcats of the High–A Carolina League.^[11] He was a Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star after pitching to a 3.59 ERA in 19 games over 95.1 innings.^[9]

On July 31, 2016, the Indians traded Sheffield along with Clint Frazier, Ben Heller and J. P. Feyereisen to the New York Yankees for Andrew Miller.^[12] He finished the 2016 season with the Tampa Yankees of the High–A Florida State League, where he posted a 10–6 record with a 3.09 ERA. Before the 2017 season, Baseball America considered Sheffield the 7th best prospect in the Yankees organization.^[13] Baseball Prospectus ranked him 5th.^[14] He spent 2017 with the Trenton Thunder of the Double–A Eastern League, going 7-6 with a 3.18 ERA in 93+1⁄3 innings pitched.^[9] Sheffield was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for the week of May 28 and June 18 and was named a Mid-Season All-Star.^[9] He later played in the Arizona Fall League and was a 2017 Rising Star.^[15]

After starting the year in Double-A, Sheffield was promoted to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Triple–A International League on May 3, 2018.^[16] He was the 12th, 28th, and 40th best prospect in baseball, according to ESPN's, MLB's, and Baseball Prospectus' respective mid-season lists.^[17][18][19] Sheffield was also named to the 2018 All-Star Futures Game.^[20] In August, the team converted him into a relief pitcher in preparation for a September call-up to the major leagues.^[21]

He made his MLB debut on September 19 against the Boston Red Sox and gave up a single to his first batter, Brock Holt.^[22]

On November 19, 2018, the Yankees traded Sheffield, Dom Thompson-Williams, and Erik Swanson to the Seattle Mariners for James Paxton.^[23] He was the team's top prospect in 2019.^[24] Sheffield was called up on April 26, 2019^[25] and allowed two runs and four walks over three innings of relief.^[26] He pitched to a 6.87 ERA in 13 appearances for Triple-A Tacoma before the Mariners demoted him to Double-A. This was enough for Baseball America to drop him from 27 to 83 on its top 100 prospect list.^[27] Sheffield rebounded with a 2.18 ERA in 78 innings^[28] and returned to the Mariners on August 23.^[29] He finished the season with a 5.50 ERA over 36 innings.

In 2020, Sheffield was included on the Mariners' 60-man player pool during the COVID-19 shortened season.^[30] He was included in the team's six-man rotation to begin the season, pitching to a 3.58 ERA in 10 starts.^[31] In 2021, Sheffield had a 6.48 ERA in 15 starts before hitting the Injured List with a forearm strain in July.^[32] He was reinstated on September 1^[33] and used out of the bullpen.^[34] He allowed eight earned runs in 6.2 innings and was demoted before the end of the season.^[35] In 2022, Sheffield made the team out of spring training as a reliever. appeared in 6 games, starting in one of those appearances and pitched 11.2 innings in total. He finished with a record of 1-0 and a 3.86 ERA.^[36]

Sheffield was designated for assignment on January 19, 2023, to make room for Tommy La Stella on the roster.^[37] On January 26, Sheffield cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers.^[38] In 10 games with Tacoma to begin the year, Sheffield struggled immensely to the tune of a 14.04 ERA with 4 strikeouts in 8.1 innings pitched. He was released by the Mariners organization on April 27.^[39]

On May 12, 2023, Sheffield signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves organization.^[40] He spent the remainder of the season with the Triple–A Gwinnett Stripers, also appearing in one game for the Double–A Mississippi Braves. In 13 games (11 starts) for Gwinnett, Sheffield logged a 2–5 record and 6.63 ERA with 56 strikeouts across 54+1⁄3 innings pitched. He elected free agency following the season on November 6.^[41]

On June 7, 2024, Sheffield signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds.^[42]

His brother, Jordan Sheffield, is a pitcher for the Colorado Rockies.^[43][44][45]

Sheffield was arrested on January 12, 2015, and was charged with underage drinking and aggravated burglary.^[46] He pleaded guilty at Coffee County Court House in Tullahoma, Tennessee, to charges of underage drinking and criminal trespass with a deferred judgment, so that the charges could be expunged from his record in a year.^[47]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet