Dodgers News: Emmet Sheehan Moving Closer Toward Return
Emmet Sheehan Returning to the Starting Rotation? It's closer than you think.
SAN DIEGO, CA— Starting pitching has been hard to come by for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, and that’s not for lack of trying.
Despite adding multiple arms over the past two offseasons, the Dodgers, led by President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman, have run into the same issue: injuries and lots of them.
Already this season, the Dodgers have lost most of their starting rotation with Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, and now Tony Gonsolin on the injured list.
The bullpen has also been hit with the injury bug, with key arms such as Blake Treinen set to miss most of the season with a forearm strain and righty Evan Phillips out for the rest of the season with Tommy John surgery.
However, the team is expecting multiple arms back, and one arm is set to return sooner than we all could have anticipated, and that man is young right-hander Emmet Sheehan.
Sheehan, 25, missed the entire 2024 Major League Baseball season recovering from season-ending Tommy John surgery, a UCL injury that sidelined him all of spring training.
After a year of recovery, Sheehan finally began his minor league rehab assignment last month. Through three appearances, the young righty has a 1.13 ERA and fourteen strikeouts in eight innings pitched.
Prior to the start of today’s three-game series versus their National League West division rival, the San Digeio Padres, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stated that Sheehan’s next rehab start will push the righty to four innings, the longest of his rehab thus far. After that, a possible activation off the 60-day injured list.
The impact a healthy Emmet Sheehan could have on this Dodgers team is immeasurable, and even if he’s only built up to four innings, anything will help.
Starters for the Dodgers this season have pitched the second-fewest innings in the league, with just 311 innings in sixty-six games, just over 4⅔ innings per start, so Sheehan would fall right in line in terms of current production.
Sheehan was a massive part of the Dodgers’ pitching plans in the 2023 season upon his debut, where he tossed six no-hit innings against the San Francisco Giants. The righty would finish the year with a 4.92 ERA, mixing between the rotation and bullpen, and entering the ‘24 season, he was in line for a spot in the Opening Day rotation before his injury.
However, the big takeaway from all of this is that Sheehan looks healthy, and the stuff has been electric with his fastball touching 98 MPH along with a 15.75 K/9.
Sheehan is on the 60-day injured list, meaning that he’s not on the Dodgers’ active 40-man roster, so when he is ready to be activated, the team will have to make a roster decision.
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