Jul. 16—Imagine being Sheehan back on June 16. He had just been called up from Double-A, bypassing Triple-A altogether, to make his major-league debut at Dodger Stadium. His opponent: the archrival San Francisco Giants. Outside the stadium, thousands were protesting the Dodgers’ honoring of a LGBTQ+ group on Pride Night.
But despite walking into a maelstrom, Sheehan handled and dominated the start as if he were taking the bump in a Darien Little League game, as he had done so many times a decade or so earlier. All he did was no-hit the Giants for six innings before being lifted by manager Dave Roberts.
Sheehan wound up with a no-decision in what was ultimately a Dodger loss, but he certainly opened the eyes of his new teammates. Including one future first-ballot Hall of Famer.
“Making your major-league debut is hard enough as it is,” Clatyon Kershaw told Hearst Connecticut Media on Friday, prior to the Dodgers’ bout with the Mets at Citi Field. “That rapid climb like that, and just kind of showing up and going when he probably didn’t know many of us, I’m sure he was nervous. He said he didn’t eat for a few days before, but he handled it pretty well. He didn’t show it on the mound. He competed well, so it was pretty cool to see.”
Sheehan said the whole day was “kind of a blur at first.” He knew the protests were going on outside, but was only concerned with the task at hand.
“I didn’t even think about it, I was just so overwhelmed,” he recalled. “I had to meet all my teammates that day, meet everyone in the clubhouse. A lot of names to remember, along with pitching on the same day. It kind of almost helped me clear my mind a little bit and get out there.”
Despite giving up those back-to-back home runs a week later, Sheehan earned his first big-league win against the Astros, allowing three hits and two runs over six innings. Called up largely because of an array of injuries to the Dodgers’ pitching staff (including Kershaw, who is currently on the Injured List), Sheehan has been a godsend.
“He’s been great so far,” Kershaw said. “Obviously, it’s kind of a rapid ascent to get here. It was kind of the product of necessity, we just needed another starter. But he’s been really good, man. He works hard, I’ve enjoyed getting to talk to him. He wants to learn, wants to get better, he’s got the right attitude. And he’s not afraid.”
Added catcher Austin Barnes: “Being able to go out there and give us a shot to win, especially when a lot of our guys have been hurt, it’s impressive to come up from Double-A or anywhere, honestly, and be able to do that.”
Sheehan has come back to earth a bit in his last two starts. He gave up seven hits and three runs in five innings at Colorado, hardly a pitcher’s paradise. On July 4, Sheehan served up five runs in 3 2/3 innings at home against Pittsburgh.
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“I think we kind of know exactly where we need to be with mechanical adjustments and all that,” he said on Friday. “I think a lot of it’s game-planning, getting in the zone more early in counts, that type of stuff. Making sure I get ahead, that always helps.”
Sheehan’s next start is slated for Monday — not at Citi Field, unfortunately, but in Baltimore. Still, he was slated to have numerous friends and family members at Citi over the weekend, many of whom were able to fly out to his June 16 debut in Los Angeles.
‘He goes out and competes’
Sheehan, 23, was born in New York City but moved to Darien when he was about 5 and has lived there since, playing Darien Little League and travel ball with the competitive Connecticut Blue Jays. Sheehan attended Fordham Prep, an all-boys Catholic school in the Bronx, for three years before heading up to Salisbury School up in the northwest corner of Connecticut and reclassified.
Sheehan had no college offers while at Fordham Prep and didn’t have much hope of playing at the next level. But a couple of weeks after deciding to reclassify and play two years at Salisbury, he got an offer from Boston College — quickly accepted.
After three solid seasons at BC, he was selected by the Dodgers in the sixth round of the 2021 MLB Draft. Sheehan rose up through the Dodgers’ system rather quickly over his first two years and began this season with Double-A Tulsa, where he dominated. He was 4-1 with a 1.86 ERA, a 0.88 WHIP and 88 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings before what appeared to be a promotion to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Sheehan was sitting in an apartment in Oklahoma City, waiting to hear when he might make his Triple-A debut, when OKC manager Travis Barbary called him to inform him he’d be instead pitching in Los Angeles in a couple of days, Sheehan didn’t I don’t know if it was real at first.
“I was overwhelmed,” he recalled. “I didn’t really know what to think. I called my mom. I was pretty nervous the next couple of days, but once I got out there, I was fine.”
Sheehan walked two and struck out just three in his debut.
“It was everything I could have asked for,” he recalled. “I definitely had a lot of good defensive plays behind me in that game, so that helped a lot. But it was amazing, for sure.”
“He didn’t give up a hit,” Barnes added “so that’s obviously pretty impressive.”
Certainly, Emmet Sheehan has impressed a certain future first-ballot Hall of Famer teammate.
“He goes out there and pitches, competes,” Kershaw added. “Obviously, his command’s probably not great yet. But, his fastball is special, and he’s learning the other stuff, and I think he could be pretty good.”