Less than two weeks remain until the Los Angeles Dodgers play two games in Seoul, South Korea, versus the San Diego Padres to begin Major League Baseball’s regular season.
Unfortunately, it looks like the National League West favorites have already dropped a game.
According to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, the Dodgers announced on Saturday that right-hander Emmet Sheehan will start the season on the injured list due to shoulder pain that has restricted his availability throughout the exhibition season.
The 24-year-old Sheehan was seen as the front-runner to start the Dodgers’ rotation in the fifth place going into spring training.
Last season, he had 13 appearances (11 starts), totaling a 4.92 ERA (89 ERA+), and a 2.46 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Unfortunately, Sheehan’s shoulder problems have prevented him from playing in the spring yet. Even though he’s now resumed his throwing regimen, he was shut down for a week.
Even though Sheehan wasn’t expected to throw during the Seoul series, it’s reasonable to question whether he will be available when the regular season starts.
It usually takes a pitcher three or four weeks to warm up. In the event that Sheehan experiences no more delays or setbacks, he will be eligible to make his first scheduled start on April 1. The Dodgers might err on the side of caution and allow Sheehan more time to get in shape given his promise.
In the event that this happens, Gavin Stone or Ryan Yarbrough would probably start the season as Los Angeles’ fifth starter.
For the entire season, the Dodgers will probably hold their breath when it comes to injuries.
They were among the big league clubs with the highest injury rate the previous season, and they have already lost Dustin May, Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, and Tony Gonsolin.
(That does not include Shohei Ohtani or Nick Frasso, two of the best prospects in the game, who will not be pitching this season due to arm operations.)
The fact that Tyler Glasnow and James Paxton, who are both prone to missing significant portions of the season, are in Los Angeles’ rotation along with second-year
right-hander Bobby Miller, who set a new career high in innings pitched last year with 138 combined frames, doesn’t help matters either. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will also need to get used to the MLB throwing schedule.
Put another way, anticipate the Dodgers rotation to be disrupted throughout the season, even if Sheehan misses the bare minimum of time to start the season.