Ben Shields was not a well-known name entering the 2023 MLB Draft, but the Yankees decided to take a flier on the 25-year-old as an undrafted free agent. He’s one of the most unconventional prospects in their organization, as his age would make you think he’s been in the system forever but this is his first season as a professional. He dominated in a bullpen role with the Hudson Valley Renegades before transitioning into a starting role and getting a much-deserved promotion to Double-A, where most pitchers hit a speedbump.
Instead of hitting a wall however, Shields has flourished with the Somerset Patriots, and he’s making a very intriguing case to be one of the top pitchers in the Yankees’ farm system.
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Not only was Ben Shields an undrafted free agent, which already puts his odds of becoming a big leaguer close to 0%, but he was 24 years old when he was signed. Pitching at George Mason University in 2023, the left-hander was solid as a starter but didn’t impress enough to get drafted by anyone, and the Yankees took a no-risk flier on him that saw him transition from a reliever to a starter in Hudson Valley.
He’s hit the ground running as a starter, immediately winning South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Month before being promoted to Double-A and facing the challenging Eastern Division. The Portland SeaDogs and Binghamton RumblePonies are just two of the laundry list of relentless offenses that he would have to square off against, with guys on those teams who are expected to reach the Major Leagues either late in 2024 or early in 2025.
Since being promoted, he’s shoved for the Patriots, posting a 2.72 ERA across seven trips through the rotation and averaging roughly 5 innings pitched per outing. His 28.2% strikeout rate and 50% groundball rate are excellent, and he remains the only starter in the Eastern League (min. 35 IP) with both a K% at or above 28% and a groundball rate at or above 50%.
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Results are hard to use for ranking prospects however, as there are a lot of things that work at the High-A and Double-A levels that don’t work at the Major League level. Ben Shields strikes me as the kind of pitcher whose success is fueled by projectable skills such as having excellent stuff and reliable command. His fastball won’t blow anyone away, but his low release height extension creates a tough look for opposing batters.
Sitting between 92-94 MPH, it generates plenty of run and when located up in the zone can even miss some bats as well, but I view it more as a zone-filling damage suppressor that allows him to either get ahead in the count or get a quick groundball. With a good amount of extension, the pitch plays a little firmer than it should, and it’s about an average pitch in my eyes.
The two pitches that stand out most to me are his slider and curveball, two breaking balls that allow him to get outs against both left-handed and right-handed batters. His slider is a looping breaking ball with good two-plane movement that lefties have a lot of trouble picking up out of hand, and his curveball generates a ton of drop to get right-handed hitters to swing over it.
Setting expectations for a prospect is very difficult and sometimes counterproductive, some guys become great big leaguers when no one saw it coming and others flame out in Triple-A after years of prospect hype. Success for a prospect is also often misrepresented, making it to the Major Leagues is a win on its own. If Ben Shields joins the Scranton Shuttle and makes a couple of spot starts or some mop-up appearances, that’s a really good outcome considering his prospect status.
He may not be a universally ranked prospect in the Yankees’ top 30, as MLB Pipeline didn’t include him on their list, but I think he should be firmly within the top-30. Ben Shields could be MLB-ready by 2025 considering how he’s pitched in Double-A, but the adjustment to Triple-A can be very difficult for a variety of reasons. The Yankees could utilize him as a depth starter or a bullpen option in the second half of next season, but that relies on his health and excellence holding up.
Ben Shields was nothing more than a 25-year-old pitcher who every team in baseball passed on 20 different times, but with the Yankees, he’s a blossoming pitcher who could reach the Major Leagues in the next year or so.