The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled Emmet Sheehan and placed Edwin Díaz on the 15-day injured list due to neck inflammation, prior to Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies.
Díaz missed over three months while recovering from right elbow surgery to remove loose bodies. He appeared in nine games upon getting activated but struggled mightily. He blew three saves and allowed 11 runs over 7.2 innings pitched during that span.
Díaz’s latest uninspiring performance came Monday night, when he allowed three runs in the ninth inning before managing to finish a blowout win. His shaky appearance led to Tanner Scott beginning to warm up with two outs.
“Obviously the results weren’t good, but I still think him getting out there and pitching Major League innings is going to help him,” manager Dave Roberts said after the win. “So yeah, we’re just still working through some things.”
Ironically, both times Díaz has been put on the injured list this season have now come the day after he pitched at Coors Field.
Emmet Sheehan’s new role
Sheehan is back up with the Dodgers just over two weeks after he was optioned in the corresponding move to Tarik Skubal joining the roster. That decision came the day after Sheehan struggled through yet another start.
“For everyone, I think it’s the right thing to do,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said at the time of Sheehan being sent down to Oklahoma City. “It’s going to give him a chance to reset, get out of this hotbox of performance.
“Obviously, we believe in him, we’ve shown that year in and year out, and I just had a good conversation with him. He’ll start on Saturday for that OKC team. Just got to get him back to who he is.”
Sheehan is 4-8 with a 5.29 ERA, 4.75 FIP and 1.29 WHIP in 95.1 innings across 20 starts for the Dodgers this season. In his first game with the Comets, the right-hander threw just 22 pitches and recorded two outs in what was a planned shortened outing.
Then in a start on Aug. 12, Sheehan had eight strikeouts over 5.2 scoreless innings.
Although Sheehan is receiving another opportunity with the Dodgers, it’s expected to come out of the bullpen. That’s a role he likely was going to potentially fill come October anyhow due to the Dodgers’ starting rotation having a crowded outlook.
Sheehan’s arrival boosts a Dodgers bullpen that Roberts recently said had “ailing” players. Despite that, it was Justin Wrobleski who landed on the 15-day injured list with Kyle Hurt getting recalled Sunday.
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