Justin Shafer

BIOGRAPHY

Justin Shafer was born September 18, 1992, in Lake Wales, Florida. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

Shafer was selected in the eighth round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was assigned to the Short Season-A Vancouver Canadians for the remainder of the 2014 season, and went 1–3 with a 5.16 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 222⁄3 innings pitched. Shafer was assigned to the Class-A Lansing Lugnuts to begin 2015 and was later promoted to the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays. Operating as a swingman, Shafer posted an 8–9 record, 4.15 ERA, and 53 strikeouts in 951⁄3 innings. During the offseason, Shafer pitched for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League (AFL). He spent the entire 2016 season with Dunedin, going 4–6 with a 5.23 ERA and 62 strikeouts in a career-high 1151⁄3 innings. Shafer returned to the AFL in the offseason, appearing in seven games for the Mesa Solar Sox.

Shafer was converted to a full-time reliever to begin the 2017 campaign. After five scoreless appearances with Dunedin, he was promoted to the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Shafer spent the majority of the year with New Hampshire and earned a late-season promotion to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. In total, Shafer made 44 relief appearances in 2017 and went 5–2 with a 2.90 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 711⁄3 innings. On January 24, 2018, the Blue Jays invited Shafer to spring training. He split his time in 2018 between New Hampshire and Buffalo.

On August 19, 2018, Shafer was called up by the Blue Jays and made his debut the same day in relief against the New York Yankees, throwing a scoreless inning with a strikeout. He was outrighted off the roster on November 2, 2018, and assigned to Triple-A Buffalo to start the 2019 season. Shafer had his contract selected on May 28, 2019. He was optioned back to Buffalo on June 3. He ended the season with a record of 2-1 in 34 games. He struck out 39 in 39+2⁄3 innings but also walked 25 batters. Shafer was designated for assignment on November 20, 2019.