The Los Angeles Dodgers will be short two starting pitchers when they begin the 2026 season as Blake Snell and Gavin Stone are dealing with respective shoulder injuries.
Snell’s absence created an opening in the team’s starting rotation that was expected to be filled with either Emmet Sheehan, Justin Wrobleski or River Ryan.
Ryan was among the Dodgers’ latest Spring Training roster cuts, narrowing the competition to Sheehan and Wrobleski. Both pitchers have experience in the starting rotation and bullpen, so the club’s choice presumably came down to preference.
Although the Dodgers haven’t made an official announcement just yet, Sheehan revealed that he will be part of the Dodgers’ Opening Day starting rotation, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“Starting,” he said after a final Cactus League start on Saturday.
“I’ll do whatever they want me to do. But right now, I’m a starter.”
Sheehan has struggled this spring, in part due to an early illness that limited him at the start of camp. He allowed eight hits and seven runs in 10.2 innings across three Cactus League starts, striking out 11 and walking six.
Sheehan allowed four runs in his final tuneup against the Athletics on Saturday, but his fastball velocity was up and that left him feeling encouraged:
‘I think we definitely made a lot of progress,” Sheehan said after Saturday. “Velo was a little better today. I think stuff was a little better.
“I think it was a couple things, but just timing of how things synced up. So yeah, I think we’re in a better spot now, for sure.”
With Sheehan unofficially earning the final spot in the Dodgers’ rotation, Wrobleski will likely still make the Opening Day roster as a reliever. He figures to provide length out of the bullpen and could make occasional starts if necessary.
Dodgers starting rotation with Emmet Sheehan
The Dodgers’ initial starting rotation is expected to be comprised of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki and Sheehan.
Yamamoto will start for the Dodgers on Opening Day, but the rest of the order has yet to be determined.
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