Chandler Shepherd

Chandler Shepherd
Boston Red Sox
Relief pitcher
Born: (1992-08-25) August 25, 1992
Louisa, Kentucky
Bats: Right Throws: Right

James Chandler Shepherd (born August 25, 1992) is an American professional relief pitcher who plays in the Boston Red Sox Minor League Baseball system. Listed at 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) and 185 pounds (84 kg), he bats and throws right-handed.[1]

A three-year player at the University of Kentucky from 2012 to 2014,[2] Shepherd was selected by the Red Sox in the 13th round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of Kentucky.[1] He uses a high three-quarters arm slot to stay on top of his pitches and drive them down in the strike zone, complementing his 91-93 mph fastball, which tops out at 95 mh, with a sharp 10-to-4 slider that sat mostly 81-84 mph and a mid-80s changeup.[3]

College career

As a junior, Shepherd was sidelined by a forearm laceration that forced him to miss three weeks,[2] but he returned to a relief role in nine games, following with nine starts. He finished with a 3-1 record, a 3.83 earned run average and one save, winning Baseball America honors as the top prospect in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League,[2] where he was also named pitcher of the year and made the PGCBL first team and the Perfect Game USA first team as a member of the Amsterdam Mohawks [2]

As a sophomore, he was dominant as a reliever, appearing in 26 games with one start, posting a 2.77 ERA and a 5-0 record over 55⅓ innings of work. He finished 3-0 with a 0.44 ERA over his last 11 appearances to being selected to the 2013 Cape Cod League All-Star team, and also named No. 46 prospect in the league.[2]

In his senior year, Shepherd rated among the 2014 Baseball America Preseason NCAA Top-100 Players (No. 70). He then made 16 pitching appearances, ending with a 5-5 record and a 3.66 ERA in 76⅓ innings, including nine starts and one saved game.[2]

Professional career

Shepherd started his professional career in 2014 with the Class A Short Season Lowell Spinners, where he was 4–3 with a 4.05 ERA in 16 games, working mostly as a long reliever in 33⅓ innings.[1] He was promoted to the Class A Greenville Drive in 2015, and he excelled with a 3–0 record, a 1.23 ERA and one save in 14⅔ innings.[1] But Shepherd spent much of the year with the Class A-Advanced Salem Red Sox, posting an 0–2 record with a 3.61 ERA and six saves in 28 games, including a 6.57 strikeout-to-walk ratio (46-to-7) in 52⅓ innings.[1] Later in the year, he also pitched well in the Arizona Fall League with the Scottsdale Scorpions, appearing in 11 games, while going 1–1 with a 3.97 ERA and one save in 11⅓ innings. Overall, he went 4–3 with a 3.22 ERA and eight saves in 78⅓ innings to complete three different levels in his first full professional season.[1]

Shepherd opened 2016 with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, where he was 1–1 with a 1.80 ERA and seven saves in 14 appearances, including a 0.80 WHIP and .140 batting average against, while striking out 39 and walking 10 in 30 innings.[1] He then gained a promotion to the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox in the month of June.[4] From May 2 to June 29, he hurled a 23⅓ scoreless-inning streak between the two stints.[5] Shepherd finished 2016 with a 2–3 record and a 2.81 ERA.[6] With Pawtucket in 2017, Shepherd had a 1–5 record with 4.07 ERA in 34 appearances (one start) and ​59 2⁄3 innings pitched.

The Red Sox added Shepherd to their 40-man roster after the 2017 season.[7] He started the 2018 season with Triple-A Pawtucket.

Sources

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Chandler Shepherd – MiLB Register Statistics and History. Baseball Reference. Retrieved on June 30, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Chandler Shepherd College Career. University of Kentucky Website Retrieved on June 30, 2016.
  3. ↑ Chandler Shepherd Page. SoxProspects.com. Retrieved on June 30, 2016.
  4. ↑ Reliever Chandler Shepherd promoted to Pawtucket. MassLive.com. Retrieved on June 30, 2016.
  5. ↑ Chandler Shepherd – 2016 Statistics Summary. MiLB.com. Retrieved on July 1, 2016.
  6. ↑ http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=605469#/career/R/pitching/2016/ALL
  7. ↑ http://www.masslive.com/redsox/index.ssf/2017/11/boston_red_sox_40-man_roster_j.html
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