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DENVER Onetime first-round MLB Draft pick Jordan Sheffield has a triple-digits fastball, a clear focus and a new opportunity.
The Rockies picked Sheffield, 25, a right-handed reliever, seventh overall in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday. Sheffield was a 2016 first-round pick of the Dodgers, 36th overall, out of Vanderbilt, whose highest level was Double-A in 2019. Before the 2020 Minor League season was cancelled, projections had him at least making it to Triple-A.
Sheffield, whose career has been marked by high velocity and high strikeouts but also high walks, flashed his best stuff during instructional ball in Arizona. The Rockies viewed three save opportunities, covering four innings, and charted his fastball at 94-100 mph, with a 96-mph average, and an above-average Major League slider.