Atlanta Braves fans will love their newest lefty Jared Shuster
By Fred Owens
Atlanta Braves first draft pick surprised fans, but they’ll love Jared Shuster.
The Atlanta Braves defied all of the mocks – as usual – and selected Jared Shuster, a 6’-3, 210 pound junior out of Wake Forest who called New Bedford, Mass. home.
Before this season started, most scouting reports described Shuster as a crafty lefty… code words for late-round or back of the rotation arm without a high ceiling. The description fit him as a sophomore, when his fastball sat at 88-92, with secondary pitches that were a work in progress.
He walked over five batters per nine in his first two years and had an ERA north of six. He had more success against wood bats last summer, dropping his walk rate to 1.41 in a small sample of 33 innings pitched. Shuster earned selection to the Cape Cod League All-Star team by posting a 4-0 record with a 1.36 ERA, 36 strikeouts and only five walks.
His improvement was significant, but he understood that he needed to take a bigger step forward this season to earn a serious payday in the draft and that he did.
In a season shortened by the pandemic shut-down, he made four starts, threw 26 1/3 innings, struck out 43, walked 4, and posted a 3.76 ERA and 0.949 Whip. Those numbers become a10.75 K/BB rate with 14.7 K/9.
Those doing the rankings noted the change and bumped him into the top 100. When the draft began, Baseball America ranked him 44th, strikeout-addicted Fangraphs slipped him to 62nd, and MLB Pipeline had him at number 77.