Player Profile: LHP Shaeffer Hall
For players like left-handed pitcher Shaeffer Hall, it's about mental preparation, knowing what you have to work with and applying skills learned outside of the ballpark.
Currently, Hall leads the team with 65 strikeouts and is second with seven wins. Compared to other Trenton Thunder starters, his fastball lacks velocity; however, he still finds ways to win and shut down batters.
Growing up, Hall did not have the same physical attributes that other pitchers have and threw a fastball that only registered in the mid-to-upper 80s. Instead of narrowing in on his weaknesses, Hall developed his other pitching skills to make him a stronger competitor.
"I just take it with a grain of salt and try to tell myself, 'OK, if I don't have a good arm, I've got to have better movement, location and off-speed stuff to get hitters out," Hall said. "I've never really been that guy, so growing up and through high school and college I just pitched the same way and it's led me here. I've told myself if it's gotten me here, I just got to be myself and hopefully get to the big leagues."
Being himself wasn't easy at first - Hall wasn't heavily recruited until his senior year of high school - but it helped in the long run. In 2006, he was drafted by the Texas Rangers but declined. Hall didn't want to rush into anything and wanted to wait until he was ready.
"The doors opened, I saw a different light," Hall said. "That made me decide, 'Well, let's go to a junior college for one year.' This allowed me to mature a little bit more."
While attending Jefferson County College, Hall was 10-1 with a 2.19 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 83 innings. He tossed a team-high six complete games and was the 2007 Conference Player of the Year. After the Cleveland Indians drafted him secondly, Hall made the decision to transfer to Kansas University and get his degree. After completing his sports management degree, he was drafted a third time in 2009, this time by the New York Yankees.
"I like the fact that I had three years of school out of the way, I like the offer that I got," Hall said. "The Yankees are a prestigious organization and I think everything worked out great for me. I don't have any regrets about it."
As he moved up in the Yankees' farm system, he didn't just take his new pitching skills with him, but also some new working experiences that he learned in college. In his final year at Kansas, Hall participated in a 600-hour internship for the National Football League team the Kansas City Chiefs.
"It's a lot of hours, that's one of the downfalls of the internships," Hall said. "It's not the most glamorous thing to do but you got to put the hours in and show them you are willing to do it."
Hall branched out of marketing and made himself available for every department for the Chiefs in hopes of getting some recognition.
"If they ever needed anything I would kind of be a phone call away [for them] to say 'Hey, Schaeffer can you do this for me?'" Hall said.
Hall's internship experiences taught him to be more disciplined and available to anyone he plays or works for.
"I don't know when my baseball career is going to end, but having the degree over with, I think that makes me more focused on playing ball now," Hall said. "I love playing baseball. It's my dream to make it to the big leagues. I want to play as long as I can but in the back of my mind I got to have a backup plan."
Hall's mental game has played a large role in where he is today and the pitcher that he has become. He has a full understanding of his capabilities and what it takes to make it to "The Show."
"You definitely learn who the MLB players are, you know the people who can get through those struggles are the people who get there," Hall said, "so if I struggle one day, I just got to look past it and move on to the next day because tomorrow is another day. You just got to learn from your mistakes and you just got to work hard."