Justus Sheffield won't exactly sit and wait. He won't go sleepless, either.
Sheffield, one of the Yankees' top pitching prospects, said recently he's not stressing over where the team will put him to start the 2018 season.
"The way I look at it, I just have to go out there and do my thing," Sheffield told MLB.com at the Rookie Career Development Program in Washington, D.C. "Let the front office handle where they're going to put me and where I'll end up. All I can do is do what I do best and get outs and give my team a chance to win."
Sheffield, 21, was ranked by Baseball America as the Yankees' No. 3 overall prospect. MLB.com ranks the left-hander at No. 4 in the organization. Baseball America added that Sheffield has the farm system's best slider.
Sheffield would seem likely to start the season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he could become a big-league option as early as the second half of the season.
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Sheffield went 7-6 with a 3.18 ERA in 17 starts at Double-A Trenton last year before hurting his oblique, an injury that took him off the mound from July 5 until Aug. 25.
At the Arizona Fall League, Sheffield went 2-2 with a 3.10 ERA in five starts. The league named him to its postseason all-star team.
Here are some more quotes from Sheffield:
On his 2017 ...
Very pleased with my season. Saw a lot of positives. Seems like the Yankees saw a lot of positives this year out of me also. Definitely had a great time going out to the fall league. That was big for me. Just being able to go out there and get my innings under me and face those higher type guys and get to compete. I love to compete. So, overall, I thought I had a great year other than the injury.
On his injury ...
That wasn't good. But I overcame that and I'm looking forward to this year. It was weird because I think I had the injury for a reason. It was a learning experience, a learning curve, since I've never been injured in my career. It was definitely new to me to get over not being able to get out there on the field and overcome it and get back out there with my teammates.
On recovery ...
I think I was just kind of hungry to get back on the field. Missing those two months, which I thought I was going to be able to come back before the playoffs even started, I thought I would be able to get a few innings in before the playoffs. It ended up not working out that way so I think going to the fall league and just being hungry and being able to compete on the field again against those top guys. It's time to play ball.
Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.