Mariners’ Justus Sheffield calm, confident entering first start against Angels
What Justus Sheffield is feeling on the mound right now he calls a “controlled amp.”
Last season, in seven starts with the Mariners near the end of the summer, the rookie left-hander consistently fought with containing his adrenaline, jitters would take over, and the end result was often hits, runs or walks for the opposing team.
But, those nerves that led him to a 5.50 ERA in eight appearances with Seattle last season appear to be a distant memory now.
He’s still plenty hyped up to pitch, and make his first start of the season Tuesday against the Angels in Anaheim, but those emotions are much more controlled now.
“Definitely been working hard on that, and it’s good to see it go into play,” Sheffield said on a video call with reporters after his final intrasquad start of summer camp last week.
Sheffield, now 24 years old and in his second season with the club, displayed nothing but confidence and composure in three outings in Arizona this spring. Sheffield struck out 12 batters. He didn’t walk any.
That poise and production carried over into summer camp, where he pitched four perfect innings in his final intrasquad outing, striking out eight of the 12 batters he faced.
Sheffield gave up a single run on four hits in his three appearances. He and Seattle starter Kendall Graveman tied for the team lead in strikeouts in camp with 13 apiece.
In each appearance in spring training and summer camp, Sheffield appeared in control on the mound — like he had pitched on a big stage before.
Mariners manager Scott Servais said early on in summer camp, of all of Seattle’s young pitchers, Sheffield seemed to have taken the biggest step forward from where he was a year ago.
“He’s maturing,” Servais said. “Young pitchers, they all have hurdles to get over. One of them for Sheff was, when it starts going fast, how does he slow it down? It’s not so much how do you do it mentally, but what pitch is he going to go to? The catchers have a better idea now that they’ve dealt with him and worked with him more on how to get him back in sync.
“I’ve been very impressed with Sheff, really since the first day of spring training back in Peoria. He’s had a different kind of aura about him, much more confident, and he’s got weapons to get himself out of trouble if he does start speeding up. … There’s a lot to work with.”
Sheffield has also made gains working with more veteran pitchers in Seattle’s rotation.
“It’s been great,” he said. “I feel like our rotation is a great rotation as far as talent-wise and off-the-field-wise, just being good human beings. Easy to talk to. They’re going to give me advice any time I need it, and I enjoy watching them and learning from them.
“I watched Kendall throw (last week) and I’ve seen him front-hip some guys with his two-seam (fastball) and he’s a good guy to watch do that. … I love to learn. Love to watch and learn. So, these guys are going to help me just as much as I hope I can help them.”
Mariners ace Marco Gonzales said he has seen both Sheffield and Seattle’s other rookie rotation member, Justin Dunn, make strides early on this summer.
“Their maturity has grown,” Gonzales said last week. “Their routines have become cleaner. They know what to expect from themselves. They know what to expect when they show up at the field. …
“When you’re young and you show up, you’re kind of wide-eyed and you want to go and you want to pitch, but there’s a process that needs to happen in order to prepare your body and your mind in order to compete.
“I think they’ve gotten a lot better at that. You can just tell from their bullpens, the intent is way different. They know themselves a lot better, and I think that’s just a part of becoming a big league pitcher, part of becoming a man in this game.”
Sheffield said after his final intrasquad start he is “so ready” for his first regular season start after making an Opening Day roster for the first time in his young career.
“It means the world,” he said. “Coming up in the minor leagues, that’s what your goal is, to make the big league club, break camp. It just means everything.
“A lot of hard work going into it, and it’s finally starting to show. I’m grateful for the opportunity and definitely going to take advantage of it and make the most of it.”
MARINERS RESPOND TO MARLINS OUTBREAK
The Marlins postponed their home opener, which was scheduled for Monday night, after a COVID-19 outbreak spread through the clubhouse while on the road in Philadelphia.
The total confirmed positive cases within the team in recent days is at least 13, according to a report from ESPN. The Athletic reported Tuesday four more cases had been confirmed.
The reported outbreak also postponed games both Monday and Tuesday between the Yankees and Phillies in Philadelphia.
Servais said in a daily video call with reporters Monday from Houston the Mariners are aware of the situation and working to make sure they strictly adhere to Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols as they continue their seven-game road trip.
“It’s certainly something that we are well aware of and quite frankly, we have to do a better job here, too,” he said. “(Sunday’s) game was really exciting. Guys are getting big hits, and you forget, and I’m as guilty as anybody (Sunday) and I’m going to have a meeting today and we will come up with the 2020 version of maybe a different high-five, or different ways to celebrate in the clubhouse.
“We have to do a better job there. I think we’re saying all the right stuff, but when you watch the games, we have to do the right thing, and sometimes you let your emotions get in the way, you just react and we weren’t clearly thinking and slowing it down enough in those spots.
“We will discuss that today as a team, as I’m sure many teams around the league will. We have to be really, really cautious and careful to follow the protocols.”
Servais said, to his understanding, no Mariners players or coaches have left their hotel in Houston other than to bus to the ballpark with the team. The club has also diligently kept up with protocols in the clubhouse, batting cages and pregame, he said, but the Mariners need to better control their in-game responses to big plays.
“We just have to control that a little bit,” he said. “Don’t want to curb the enthusiasm of young players, that’s the beauty of the game and what we’re going through, and getting the chance to experience that with our whole team, but we do have to be smart.”
MARINERS ANNOUNCE PREGAME PLANS
The Mariners have announced their pregame schedule for their home opener, which is at 6:40 p.m. Friday night against the A’s. Though fans are not allowed at the ballpark due to COVID-19 restrictions, there will still be a pregame ceremony, which begins at 6 p.m. and will be carried live on ROOT Sports. Among other performances that will be aired, Seattle-based musician Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service) recorded a song during summer camp that will be played. Gov. Jay Inslee will throw out the first pitch and Servais will deliver a special message from the dugout.
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
