What Yankees pitching coach thinks of top prospect Justus Sheffield so far

Following news of Masahiro Tanaka’s injury, pitching coach Larry Rothschild talked about what he’s thought of top pitching prospect Justus Sheffield’s progress at Triple-A.

NEW YORK — Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild watches video of the team’s premium minor-league arms whenever he gets a chance.

Sometimes he’ll pull out his iPad and squeeze in an inning on a flight. Sometimes he’ll watch when he waked up in the morning.

Obviously, Rothschild hasn’t seen Justus Sheffield — widely regarded as the team’s best pitching prospect — throw in person since spring training. But he’s kept up with the 21-year-old lefty’s progress at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Following Saturday’s news that the Yankees could be without righty starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (hamstring strains in both legs) for weeks, Rothschild was asked what he’s thought of Sheffield’s progress since getting promoted from Double-A.

“It’s an adjustment,” the pitching coach said before the Yankees faced the Mets at Citi Field. “Video doesn’t tell you everything and I didn’t get to see the game from (Friday) night, but I think he’s made improvements and it’s an adjustment. It’s step by step and he’s still fairly young. But he’s very competitive and he’s going to figure it out.”

Recently, Triple-A manager Bobby Mitchell said he believed that while Sheffield “isn’t far off” from being big-league ready, the Tennessee native still needs more work in the majors.

Latest Yankees Triple-A scouting reports

When told of Mitchell’s assessment, Rothschild made it sound like it’s quite unlikely the Yankees would consider slotting Sheffield into Tanaka’s spot in the rotation soon.

“There are some finishing touches that need to be accomplished, otherwise it’s going to be more of a rush to try and get him here,” Rothschild said.

Sheffield struck out eight over 6 1/3 innings on Friday. He gave up just one hit and two walks and didn’t allow any earned runs, though Louisville scored two. 

In six starts at Triple-A, he’s 1-2 with a 2.96 ERA. He’s struck out 27 and walked 15 in 27 1/3 innings. At Double-A, he went 1-2 with a 2.25 ERA in five starts.

MLB.com ranks Sheffield as the Yankees’ No. 2 overall prospect, behind outfielder Estevan Florial.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.