The Dodgers announced that right-hander Emmet Sheehan underwent surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow yesterday. They didn’t announced whether it was full Tommy John surgery or the internal brace alternative, but a source tells Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic that it was TJS, which Ardaya relayed on X.
Sheehan, 24, was slated to compete for a rotation spot coming into this year. But in early March, he experienced some shoulder discomfort and general soreness, which led manager Dave Roberts to relay that Sheehan would be starting the season on the injured list. Though it was a shoulder injury that initially was the problem, when he was placed on the IL, his injury was described as forearm inflammation. He was transferred to the 60-day IL in late March when the club selected Nabil Crismatt to the roster.
In mid-April, he began throwing to live hitters but Roberts said that his arm “hasn’t been responding” the way team staff had hoped. The club hasn’t provided any details about Sheehan to the public in about a month but it seems that a determination was made behind the scenes that he would require surgery.
It’s obviously an unfortunate blow for both Sheehan and the team. The righty made his major league debut last year age the age of 23. He tossed 60 1/3 innings for the Dodgers over 11 starts and two relief appearances. He allowed 4.92 earned runs per nine innings in that time, striking out 25.8% of batters faced while issuing walks at a 10.5% clip. He had been even better in the minors, with a 2.43 ERA in 2023 and a 2.91 mark the year prior. Given those strong minor league numbers and his youth, it would have been fair to think a step forward in the major leagues was forthcoming in 2024.
Instead, it will now go down as a lost season for Sheehan. If there’s one silver lining for him, it’s that he’ll stay on the 60-day injured list all season, collecting major league pay and service time. He will miss a portion of 2025 as well, depending on the eventual progression of his rehab.
For the Dodgers, this will further add to the number of days missed by pitchers on their staff this year. Sheehan is one of 11 Dodgers pitchers currently on the injured list, joined by Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Kyle Hurt, Bobby Miller, Ryan Brasier, Connor Brogdon, Brusdar Graterol, Joe Kelly and Evan Phillips.
Some of those injuries were known coming into the year, as a few of those guys underwent significant surgeries last year. Still, it’s remarkable that the club hasn’t been hurt too much by all that talent that’s not currently on the roster. The Dodgers are 29-16 right now and have a 7.5-game lead in the National League West. Their pitching staff has a collective ERA of 3.16, which is third in the league, behind only the Red Sox and Yankees.
The starting staff currently consists of Tyler Glasnow, James Paxton, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler and Gavin Stone, though the club is also doing occasional bullpen games to give each pitcher five days off between outings. That’s led to guys like Ryan Yarbrough, Elieser Hernández and Michael Grove picking up bulk work here and there.
Sheehan’s surgery means he won’t be able to return later in the year for extra depth, so the Dodgers will be hoping some of the other ten guys on the injured list are able to make it back to the club before the injury bug bites them again.
dang
alot of talent in that arm
heal up
Keep chasing speed, boys….
It will be interesting to see if there are severe orthopedic and arthritic consequences for this generation of TJS pitchers when they reach their 60s
I agree, it’s going to be interesting to see how their arms hold up in their 50s and 60s. Looking at an example of an arm aging well enough, look at Roger Clemens at 60 plus pitching for the Savanah Bananas. Dude still had the windup and his arm wasn’t falling apart.
I wonder if he is still taking those ol PED’s in the old age, because I could not imagine my grandpa do something like that
Maybe? I’m not going to defend the guy or say otherwise, both are possible. Looks pretty good for a guy that’s over 60 now though.
One single physical freak of nature isn’t much indication of how a large population will be.
Similar to how some people ask why every pitcher can’t be Nolan Ryan or Greg Maddux.
Sandy Koufax is pushing 90 and he had archaic medicine compared to today. These guys will be fine
Koufax retired when his pitching arm turned black and blue. So there’s that little thing. But you’re right, it didn’t kill him, it only ended his career at age 30.
Another Dodgers pitcher’s career killed by the front office.
“Another Dodger’s pitchers career killed”…Yeah, because we all know it’s only the Dodgers that have pitchers dropping like flies, right dum dum?….You sound like one of those socially awkward guys that looks for someone to blame when it’s cold outside or you get caught in rush hour traffic.
@ mlb fan
Better use single syllables when talking to guys like Fred.
Thanks for the tip.
Emmet Sheered
He and everybody else is having elbow surgery.
Another one bites the dust…another one gone and another one gone…another one bites the dust.
I actually came here with that song already playing in my head. Well done.
A bummer, even when it happens to the bums
17 and counting….. on pace for 62 TJ surgeries this season and holding steady.
@Clipper Saw ya and just wanted to pass along my congrats, Yankees are dominating on all fronts and looking very confident. Playing as well as I’ve seen since when? First half 2022? Good times for Yank fans. Volpe starting to look like the legit leadoff guy, love Dugey in the 4 hole, and Dominguez just around the corner YIKES! Mariners are starting an east coast swing with Baltimore first then Yanks…yikes! (Yanks/Sea always play nice crisp games that could go either way. ) cheers!
Every time Seattle plays New York, judge hits at least one 450+ ft home run and destroys mariners pitching
I still can’t believe he almost hit it out of safeco field in the pacific north west conditions
Thanks ISOB! Yeah, to be frank, I’m a little concerned about the Yanks turning back into pumpkins in the second half. BUT, Soto has been a difference-maker to this lineup, so if Judge can keep his upward trajectory and Dominguez returns to form, it is going to be a very problematic lineup for pitchers.
I’m always hesitant about the Yanks’ success because they’ve crashed and burned almost as much as American Airlines of late.
and the era of load management has moved from basketball to baseball.
Give hitters every advantage possible and make every new ballpark smaller (this includes foul ground), and pitchers will rely on high velocity as a counter. Resulting in some nice surgery.
Time to talk ideas on how to keep top pitchers healthy, beyond toning down the gas.
Instead of teaching these young pitchers to throw as hard as possible, how about teaching them how to command the strike zone with movement, location and changing speeds on hitters.
It’s one way. Hitters have amazing plate coverage and body protection. Both come in-handy when facing a curve or slider starting at the hip. These advantages help take away certain pitches and locations from pitchers.
I’m worried about Justin Steele. Something is wrong with him. It started late last year.
Emmet Sheehan was nasty in his start in Seattle last August. M’s really needed that game and Emmet said nah. 6 shutout innings I think. I could tell he had promise and was sure he would be a lock in the 24 rotation. Get well dude.
Lucky for Dodgers, Tommy John is an alumni of theirs
Its getting to the point – If you have not had a TJ then you ain’t pitching hard enough
I like this kid. Sorry to read this.
I feel bad for Sheehan.
doG hates the Doyers.
Tough break. Glad Dodgers stocked up on starting pitching this past off-season, injuries are going to happen. Kid showed promise last year.