Emmet Sheehan turned in his best start of the season on Thursday night to help the Los Angeles Dodgers earn a series split with the San Francisco Giants.
The right-hander completed six innings while holding the Giants to just two runs and collective six strikeouts. Sheehan relied on the slider early and effectively mixed in the fastball, but perhaps most encouraging was his velocity holding up much better.
“Yeah, it’s definitely nice to have that later in starts,” Sheehan said. “It’s pretty important to maintain it, so felt good about it.”
Sheehan attributed that to Dodgers athletic development coordinator Eric Yavarone having him throw a medicine ball in between innings. “It was a really good idea, and I think it helped,” Sheehan said.
His fastball velocity topped out at 96.6 mph and averaged 94.8 mph. Though, it dropped to 93.6 mph in the sixth inning.
Sheehan also acknowledged an improvement in overall consistency with his delivery that meant less of falling off the mound on the first-base side and being more directional toward home plate.
“I think that’s kind of a byproduct of a couple other issues that were going on. So fixed those, and then the direction gets better,” Sheehan explained.
The 26-year-old additionally believed he benefitted from watching three games between the Giants and Dodgers before taking the mound.
“It was nice to get to watch three righties go up against the lineup. Obviously we all have different stuff,” he said. “I mean, I don’t throw an 88 mile-per-hour sweeper like Shohei, but it was good to see those reps before I got out there to face them.”
Of course, Sheehan already had his own dominance against the Giants to lean on. Now through five games (four starts) against the Dodgers’ rival, he’s limited Giants hitters to a .057 batting average (5-for-88).
Dave Roberts praises Sheehan, Rushing
Following the Dodgers’ win, manager Dave Roberts spoke highly of the performance of his battery.
“It seems like every time he’s been going out there, he’s getting better. Today, I think, was his best outing in totality. The fastball was good, the life to it, the command of it,” Roberts began. “I thought Dalton did a great job with him in the sense of when to use the curveball, when to use the changeup, when to use the fastball. We needed it.
“Just some length sets us up in the ‘pen for this next series.”
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