A Bittersweet Debut
Six innings of no-hit baseball is how 23 year old rookie, Emmet Sheehan, of the Los Angeles Dodgers got his career started earlier this week where he was selected to start against the San Francisco Giants. Just imagine you get the call up and the first thing you do is shut down a major league lineup for 6 innings? Well I can tell you one thing…the Dodgers are not mad about it. Sheehan was selected in the sixth round of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft from Boston College where he pitched for three seasons. In his Junior year at BC he went 5-5 with a 4.23 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 76 ½ innings. It’s clear that the Dodgers could see the upside with his K/9 ratios.
Considered the 8th ranked prospect in the Dodgers system according to MLB Pipeline.com there is definitely hype about him getting the nod especially as he was not a part of the 40 man roster before the start. Sheehan was born in New York and funny enough went to Fordham Prep, a rival high school of mine before transferring to the Salisbury School in Connecticut. From a young age you can tell Sheehan was a special talent and just needed some time to develop. Clearly didn’t take long as he has dominated so far this year in the minor leagues where in Double-A he tossed 53.1 innings, delivered 88 strikeouts and owned a 1.86 ERA. This is especially impressive as Sheehan has never even pitched at the Triple-A level before imposing his will on the San Francisco lineup. Unfortunately the Dodgers bullpen is suspect this year and gave away the game to spoil Sheehan’s debut.
Sheehan has an effective four-seam fastball that has the ability to jump on hitters. Combine that with an above average changeup and slider that can also be effective in attacking opposing lineups. That being said I think Sheehan will have three solid pitches to use in his arsenal. He needs to work on his control and hitting the strike zone but let's not forget the organization he is playing for and what they do with talented arms.
Excited to see Emmet continue to pitch as they could really use him right now with all of their injuries to the rotation. As a New Yorker myself I am rooting for Sheehan to succeed even if he is not in Pinstripes.
PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG
