Dodgers right-hander Emmet Sheehan will start the season on the injured list, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). Sheehan has yet to pitch this spring due to some shoulder discomfort and what Roberts described as general body soreness earlier this week, though Roberts initially indicated a few days ago that Sheehan could be ready for the Dodgers’ first game in North America on March 28.
The 2024 season gets underway earlier than usual for the Dodgers, who face the Padres in a two-game series in Seoul on March 20-21. The team then has a couple of days off to recover from jet lag before facing the Angels in the final three games of the Spring Training schedule, and then starts the rest of their 160-game slate by hosting the Cardinals on March 28 when the rest of the league also gets into action. Technically, a 15-day IL placement for Sheehan would mean that he’d miss only one start given the unusual nature of the schedule, though it stands to reason that L.A. will give him as much time as he needs to fully recover and get ready for regular trips to the mound.
A sixth-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2021 draft, Sheehan made his MLB debut last season and posted a 4.92 ERA over 60 1/3 innings. Sheehan probably wouldn’t have risen to the Show quite so quickly if the Dodgers hadn’t been so snakebitten by rotation injuries, yet he at least held his own against big league hitters despite some unimpressive hard-contact and walk rates.
Though Sheehan has only 9 2/3 Triple-A innings on his resume, he did enough in his first taste of the majors to put himself into the competition for the fifth spot in the Dodgers’ rotation at the start of camp. This injury will now put that quest on hold, and might ultimately turn Sheehan into more of a Triple-A depth arm depending on how his health progresses, and how many of the regular starters miss time on the IL.
Since Sheehan no longer in the mix, Michael Grove, rookies Gavin Stone and Kyle Hurt, and swingman Ryan Yarbrough are all in the running for starts. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, James Paxton, and Bobby Miller make up the top four in the Los Angeles rotation, and Walker Buehler is also expected to start the season on the IL as he continues his recovery from Tommy John surgery. Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May should also factor into the mix after the midpoint of the season.
Blake Snell one year deal come on down
110% luxury tax penalty probably going to preclude them from doing this.
Such the near All-Star IL….
Unfortunate, but then he was very likely headed back to the minors anyway.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they sign Monty to a one year deal
Genuinely curious what’s their projected starting rotation? Glasnow, Yamamoto, Paxton, Buehler and Miller?
When Buehler is ready. Until then I think Gavin Stone
@Mojo37 I fully expect them to be targeting a pitcher at the deadline, but never know
We’ll see what’s needed. They expect to have May and Kershaw back in the second half.
And Buehler too. I don’t see this issue with Sheehan impacting their decision making much if at all.
@Mojo37 forgot about May tbh.
@mojo37, I suspect a pitcher and a shortstop between now and the trade deadline. Especially a shortstop!
The All-TJ pitching staff boogies on!
The most important part of this story is the last paragraph. IOW, this is why you line up 12 potential starters over the course of the season.
What does IOW mean, if only when?
In other words.
The Dodgers were prepared for this. That’s why they signed 10 starting pitchers so that maybe 5 will be healthy at any one time.
Got the young Ps all pushing eachother. Competition will bring out the best in the pitching prospects. Go Dodgers !
Dodgers injury prone staff just had an injury to a guy they were counting on to fill in for all the other injured pitchers?
Negatory to that good buddy
Positively. Now there is no depth to start the season. When one of those glass arms goes down, they are in deep doo.
They have plenty of depth to start the season. It didn’t depend on one pitcher. Trying to predict injuries is a fool’s errand, yet some stand in line to volunteer for one.