Coming into the 2024 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers were expecting Emmet Sheehan to compete with Gavin Stone and Landon Knack for a spot in the starting rotation.
Sheehan quickly rose through the ranks of the Dodgers’ Minor League system and reached Double-A Rancho Cucamonga in just his second professional season. With the Dodgers’ desperate need for starting pitching in 2023, Sheehan found himself on in the Majors as a 23-year-old rookie.
Sheehan had a mixed bag of a season in 2023, but he also showcased a high celling thanks to the pure stuff he possesses in his arsenal. He was the favorite to beat out Stone and Knack for the final spot in the rotation this year in Spring Training.
Unfortunately for Sheehan and the Dodgers, that decision was made for them after a minor injury during his his first live bullpen session of the spring evolved into right forearm inflammation that landed him on the 60-day injured list.
The news only got worse when Sheehan underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery on May 15 after his body did not respond well to any kind of attempted rehab over an extended period of time.
Both Sheehan and the Dodgers attempted to take a conservative approach before surgery was taken into consideration, which ultimately did not yield the results they had hoped for.
“It was like a partial tear at first, so trying to just throw,” Sheehan said. “There’s other guys that have had similar tears, I guess, that have been able to do it. So that’s not what happened with me.”
Sheehan believes that the partial tear he suffered was a result of general wear and tear that occurs over time and doesn’t believe that it came down to a singular pitch or throw. He does not know how long it had been present, but does believe that it could have been there for a while.
He also said he does not think there is a connection to the injury he suffered in Spring Training.
“No, it was pretty recently,” Sheehan added. “Yeah, definitely not like beginning of spring. So yeah, more recently, past few weeks trying to get back and then it didn’t end up happening.”
The decision on whether or not to undergo surgery was his to make and it was not a decision he took lightly. Ultimately, he came to his conclusion after his current non-surgical route didn’t progress in the way he and the Dodgers wanted it to.
“Well it was kind of my decision,” Sheehan said. “I just knew it was based on pretty much how I felt. And so I made that decision, I knew what it meant. Obviously, it’s not the best feeling in the world. But having these guys here, the medical staff that we have and the trainers, you couldn’t ask for a better place to do it.”
The loss of Sheehan is certainly a blow to the Dodgers roster, but it is one that can be mitigated thanks to the depth that they built at the position in the offseason and the possible return of Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May.
The resiliency of Dodgers’ pitching in 2024
Despite all of the injuries the Dodgers have sustained to their pitching this season, they have somehow still found a way to be highly productive.
As a staff, the Dodgers rank inside the top five in terms of ERA. They have also been elite at limiting walks and hits, with one of the lowest WHIP in MLB and are only behind the Yankees in terms of batting average against.
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