The Dodgers' pitching staff has been ravaged by injuries the last several years and that continues with the latest news. Right-hander Emmet Sheehan has undergone elbow surgery to repair a partially torn UCL and will be out for the remainder of the 2024 season, the team announced last week. Sheehan told reporters, including The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya, Monday that he got the Tommy John hybrid procedure with an internal brace.
Sheehan, 24, was a rotation hopeful entering spring training, but a forearm injury and a newly disclosed oblique strain held him out and he hadn't pitched in an official game all year. Now we know he won't in all of 2024. Last season, he debuted in the majors on June 16 and appeared in 13 games, 11 of which were starts. He was 4-1 with a 4.92 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 64 strikeouts against 26 walks in 60 1/3 innings.
The Dodgers entered the season with basically an entire rotation on the injured list and not much has changed. Sheehan is there along with Clayton Kershaw, Bobby Miller, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin. If everyone were healthy, that'd be a hell of a rotation for a playoff contender.
As far as what they actually have, the Dodgers' current rotation is Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler, James Paxton and Gavin Stone. They are expecting to get Miller and Kershaw back in the mix at some point this season. Miller actually isn't too far from a rehab stint while Kershaw is up to 20-pitch bullpen sessions.
In spite of all the injuries, the Dodgers enter Thursday's game 29-16, good for first in the NL West by 7.5 games.
