BRADENTON, Fla. – Austin Shields made his pro debut yesterday in the GCL, and it did not go well. The right-handed pitcher recorded just one out, walking three batters, giving up one hit, and giving up four earned runs. Although, if you know the back story with Shields, this isn’t a big surprise.
The Pirates drafted Shields in the 33rd round this year, using him as more of a backup plan if some of the early guys didn’t sign. That came into play in the final week when it became apparent that Competitive Balance pick Nick Lodolo wouldn’t sign, although the Pirates started talking with Shields about this possibility a few weeks after the draft.
“I was in contact with them when I got drafted, and then we were just waiting a bit, and they told us what was going on,” Shields said. “They told us they were just waiting on him to see if he was going to sign or not. I was next in line I guess.”
After Lodolo turned the Pirates down, they took the rest of the money available and gave it to Shields, giving him an above-slot bonus of $205,000, which was actually the seventh highest bonus for the Pirates this year.
Shields is from Dundas, a town in Southern Ontario. The Pirates have scouts who cover Canada, but they first noticed him in March when his team was traveling down in Florida.
“There were a few of their scouts in March when we were down in Florida,” Shields said. “I guess they saw me there. Had an in-house visit with one of their scouts, and he came and talked to us. We just went from there.”
There’s a big reason Shields drew so much attention. He was hitting 94-95 MPH with his fastball at the age of 18, which is something that puts any potential draft pick on the radar.
“That was as fast as I had ever thrown,” Shields said. “That’s where I guess most scouts got interest.”
The increase in velocity was due to Shields cutting 35 pounds over the off-season, and getting in better shape.
“I just thought I would feel better, and probably perform better,” Shields said of the decision to trim down. “It’s been better. Just getting more repetitions, and more focus on my delivery, and repeating it is getting better.”
The fastball command has been a big issue for Shields, and remains an issue for him, as seen in his pro debut. That’s where the back story comes into play — Shields has only been pitching for two years.
“It’s just getting more and more time on the mound,” Shields explained of his command issues. “I only started pitching two years ago, so it’s pretty new to me.”
Shields was a first baseman before making the switch to the mound. He was fooling around and throwing off the mound, when he hit 90. A switch to a new team also led to a switch over to the mound, and the rest was history.
Along with the fastball velocity, the breaking pitch came naturally. Shields throws a slurve from a three-quarters arm slot, and picked the pitch up from day one.
“I’ve always had that,” Shields said of the slurve. “I’ve never really been taught how to throw it. I just kind of went with that myself, and it’s been pretty good for me.”
The changeup, however, hasn’t seen the same natural development as the velocity and the breaking pitch. That’s going to be a focus for him going forward, and something he’s already focusing on.
It was kind of the third pitch most of the time,” Shields said. “I’ve been working on it with my coach back home. He changes [the grip] up, and it’s gotten better.”
Every prep pitcher is going to be raw in some ways, and most of the guys taken after the first round, including the three other prep pitchers signed by the Pirates this year, are going to be very raw. Shields is more of an extreme case. He’s got very little experience on the mound, which can be a good thing, both from the fresh arm perspective, and from the blank slate perspective.
There’s a lot to like about him. Aside from the velocity at a young age, and the lack of a workload, he’s got a big frame at 6′ 5″, 220 pounds, and seems to have a good feel for pitching, even if there’s a lot of work needed to get him to being an actual pitcher. Shields will be a big project for the Pirates, but a project definitely worth taking on with everything that he’s shown so far.
