Coming off a terrible season debut, Emmet Sheehan was looking to bounce back in his second start of 2026 and while there are still things to work on, he was much more effective against the Washington Nationals.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was pleased with the start Sheehan turned in and believes it is an outing he can continue to build off, via Maddie Lee of the L.A. Times:
“He looked like a major-league starter, and not a guy that’s cutting his teeth,” Roberts said of the way Sheehan finished. “It’s a tough lineup in the sense for a right-handed pitcher, there’s a lot of left-handed hitters. … I do think it was a step in the right direction.”
Sheehan pitched just 3.1 innings in his season debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out six and walking two.
But in his latest start, the right-hander was able to give the Dodgers 5.2 innings. The downside was Sheehan once again allowed four runs on seven hits, while also seeing his strikeouts drop to just two with three walks on the day.
The positive was that most of the damage came in the first inning when CJ Abrams slugged a three-run homer following a double and walk. After that, Sheehan gave the Dodgers five innings of one-run ball and kept the club in the game without burning the bullpen.
Of course, the first inning was still a negative and counts against him the same as any other inning, but it was good to see him settle down and get into the sixth inning instead of letting things spiral.
Emmet Sheehan’s velocity remains inconsistent
One concerning trend for Sheehan throughout Spring Training and into the beginning of the regular season has been his velocity, and those issues remained in his second start.
The 26-year-old averaged 93.8 mph on his fastball, a notable drop from the 95.6 mph he averaged last year. The Dodgers believed they had a fix for his velocity going into the game, but the results were more of the same.
Roberts previously said Sheehan was dealing with mechanical issues that caused the drop, but he expressed confidence those were ironed out. Roberts doesn’t believe it’s injury-related at this time, but didn’t completely rule out the possibility Sheehan could be hiding a physical ailment.
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