Justus Sheffield vs. Jharel Cotton, 12:10pm
The M’s host the rebuilding Rangers today in Peoria, and one-time A’s/Dodgers prospect Jharel “Squeaky” Cotton and his floating, high-70s change-up hopes to secure a job in the wide-open Rangers pitching staff. The M’s counter with Justus Sheffield, looking to build on a successful 2020 behind his new sinker. There’s some skepticism from some corners, given the *way* that Sheffield put together that 2020 campaign, and his very low HR/FB ratio. Sure, his statcast expected slugging wasn’t high either, thanks to the fact he allowed a lot of weak contact, but we’re at a point in baseball where velocity and the ability to miss bats are seen as the gold standard of player development (and rightly so, I’d add).