Jonathan Schäffer

Jonathan Schäffer

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born April 6, 2006

Biographical Information

Jonathan Schäffer has played in the Bundesliga and for the German national team.

He was 1 for 3 for the Stuttgart Reds in 2020, making his debut at age 14! He was 0 for 1 in 2021 and was 2-for-7 with 5 walks, a double and five runs for Germany in the 2021 U-15 European Championship. He tied for third in walks. In the '22 Bundesliga, he was 0 for 1 and allowed two unearned runs in 1 2/3 IP in his pitching debut. He was 3-for-6 with a run in the 2022 U18 European Championship.

Schäffer did not play for Stuttgart's top team in 2023. In '24, he hit .208/.259/.250 and had a 5.40 ERA. He went 2-for-7 with two doubles, a walk, two runs and two RBI in the 2024 U18 European Championship, going 1-0 with a 1.31 ERA, beating future Yankees signee Tijn Fredrikze and the Netherlands; Germany finished second. He moved pretty much full-time to the mound with the 2025 Reds. Still only 19 years old, he was 5-5 with a 4.30 ERA; control was an issue as he walked 40 in 69 IP. He was 6th in the Bundesliga-1 South in strikeouts (66, trailing only Philipp Kleehaupt among native Germans), tied for 6th in wins (with Chikara Igami, Myles Martinez and Yannick Wildenhain), tied former AAA hurler Ryan Bollinger and another pitcher for 6th in losses, was 7th in IP (between Martinez and Igami), tied for 3rd in starts (13), was second in walks (2 off the lead) and allowed the 10th-lowest average.

In the 2025 U23 European Championship, he was 1-0 with a 5.00 ERA, beating Israel's Aviv Bobrov. The teenager made it to Germany's senior national team by the 2025 European Championship. He got into one game, replacing Christian Pedrol in the 4th with two outs, the bases loaded and a 3-2 deficit, trying to fare better than the former AAA hurler. He allowed a two-run single to Chase Engelhard while an error made it 6-2, but Engelhard was out trying to make it to third. He yielded a triple to Ben Rosengard to open the 5th and Jake Arnow's grounder put it at 7-2. He then settled down to retire Zev Moore and Blake Dickman. By the time Sascha Koch took over, Germany had moved back within two at 7-5 and they would rally to win.