Vandy pitcher Sheffield a likely redshirt
A year into his recovery from elbow surgery, Vanderbilt freshman pitcher Jordan Sheffield is making solid progress.
But that doesn’t mean the former Tullahoma standout will be taking the mound for the Commodores any time soon.
Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said that although Sheffield is scheduled to face live hitters in practice in the next couple weeks, he would prefer to redshirt him.
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The No. 25 Commodores (30-12, 8-10 SEC) are set to host Georgia (21-10-1, 7-9-1) beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. as they attempt to break a streak of three consecutive conference series losses.
Even though Vanderbilt has gone through a rough patch over the past few weeks, the pitching staff still ranks fifth in the Southeastern Conference with a 2.44 ERA and has a league-best .196 opponents batting average. Those numbers make a role for a freshman coming off an injury, even one who was a potential first-round draft pick, difficult to find.
Sheffield said the recovery process, which began last April after Dr. James Andrews performed Tommy John surgery, has been “going well” and that he is on track with the recovery schedule the Vanderbilt staff has laid out for him.
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“His progress is a two-pronged thing,” Corbin said. “Number one, it is bringing him along at the right speed. We might have been able to bring him along a little bit quicker, but the second part is the progress of the rest of the kids around him. When you have a staff like ours this year, it was probably a little bit easier to contain him and slow play him a little bit more.”
While Sheffield has not been completely ruled out for the 2014 season, Corbin said it would take something like a couple of injuries on the pitching staff to make Sheffield a viable option.
Corbin likened the decision to the call he had to make in 2007 on pitcher Mark Lamm, now with the Atlanta Braves Triple-A affiliate.
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“He was throwing right there (points to bullpen) getting ready to go in a game,” Corbin said. “It would have burned his redshirt year the very last game of the year. And I don’t really want to be faced with that scenario again because he was going to be a major leaguer, and I do think Jordan is that type of kid.”
Lamm also was recovering from an injury in his freshman season. The redshirt season allowed the reliever to play a key role on the school’s first College World Series team in 2011.
Limited to just 3-2/3 innings in his senior year of high school before the injury, Sheffield has missed nearly two full seasons of baseball.
“Once you get your love taken away from you it is tough, mentally,” Sheffield said. “But I’ve had people pushing me and my mind fixed on the ultimate goal.”
While it may not be in a game atmosphere, Sheffield is still looking forward to taking the next big step in his recovery — pitching to teammates.
“It is very exciting — it has been a while since I have thrown to hitters,” Sheffield said. “I threw before winter break to some live hitters just to get a feel of somebody in the box, but now I’m excited to actually be fully engaged and be able to practice and get involved.”
Sheffield’s younger brother Justus, a left-handed senior at Tullahoma, has signed with Vanderbilt.
Reach Nick Cole at 615-259-8010 and on Twitter @ncole6.