Reporter Conor O'Neill talks about Braves draftee Jared Shuster
The Braves believe they have a fast-riser with their first round pick in the 2020 draft.
Jared Shuster, originally from New Bedford, Mass., struggled in his first season at Wake Forest. He was 0-3 with a 7.41 ERA in 22 games, with six starts.
Shuster's control was off, as he walked 21 batters and struck out 32 in 34 innings as a freshman.
Then in 2019 as a sophomore, Shuster went 4-4 with a 6.49 ERA in 41 games, 22 starts. Shuster allowed 83 hits in 68.0 innings, with 37 walks and 94 strikeouts.
It was when Shuster went to the Cape Cod League that he turned things around. In seven starts last summer, Shuster went 4-0 in seven starts with a 1.40 ERA. Shuster walked only five and struck out 20 batters in the 32 innings of work.
Shuster worked on his lower core, which gave him better velocity on his fastball. His changeup has always been his best pitch, and then this spring he started to refine his third pitch.
Shuster worked with Wake Forest pitching coach John Hendricks to make the slider he was throwing for his breaking ball more of a curveball.
So, in his four starts before the pandemic, Shuster showed the work may have been paying off. He went 2-1 with a 3.76 ERA, 21 hits allowed in 26.1 innings, only four walks and 43 strikeouts.
Conor O'Neill of the Winston-Salem Journal believes Shuster still has more good development of that breaking ball and a high upside once he gets into the Braves farm system.
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