Sheehan's rise: Rookie deals in first MLB win

LOS ANGELES -- A week ago, Emmet Sheehan made quite the first impression, introducing himself to the Majors with six hitless innings in his Major League debut.

In the Dodgers’ 3-2 win over the Astros on Friday at Dodger Stadium, the club's No. 8 prospect per MLB Pipeline continued his impressive start to his career, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out four over six innings of work.

“I felt great,” Sheehan said. “I felt like my stuff was definitely a little bit better, getting comfortable with a big league ball. And yeah, I gave us a chance to win, which is what I was trying to do.”

Sheehan picked up right where he left off in his previous start, tossing two hitless innings to start his outing on Friday. He went 8 1/3 hitless innings to begin his career until Chas McCormick reached safely on an infield single in the third.

In the fourth, the Astros were able to get to Sheehan with back-to-back homers by Mauricio Dubón and Kyle Tucker, the first two runs allowed by the young right-hander. But perhaps most impressively to the Dodgers, Sheehan was able to not let the inning spiral and keep his composure.

He walked Alex Bregman immediately after the two homers, but then went on to retire the last nine batters he faced, including back-to-back strikeouts to end the fifth against Corey Julks and 2022 World Series MVP Jeremy Peña.

“It’s impressive,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “With a guy like Emmet, you learn some information with some adversity and for him to give up a couple homers, but for him to not run from it was pretty telling.”

After utilizing his changeup more than his slider in his debut, Sheehan leaned more on the slider in his second outing. He said that was predicated a little by the game plan set up to attack the Astros’ lineup, but mostly based on reading the swings Houston was taking off him. Sheehan only generated four swings and misses in his debut. He recorded 12 on Friday.

Opposing hitters also have yet to record a hit against Sheehan's four-seamer, the pitch that turned him into a top-rated prospect.

“It’s pretty similar the way it was playing up in Double-A, I think,” Sheehan said. “Maybe a little less strikeouts, but other than that, I feel good about heaters up in the zone and slider, changeup, some curveballs off that. It’s all good.”

When Sheehan made his debut last Friday against the Giants, nobody knew how long he would be in the Majors. All of that was going to be decided by how Sheehan performed. Through two outings, Sheehan has already earned a longer leash, and is trying to establish himself in the Dodgers’ rotation.

His next start will come on Thursday against the Rockies at Coors Field. With young fireballers Sheehan and Bobby Miller in the starting rotation for the foreseeable future, the Dodgers will get a good idea of what their future could look like for the next handful of seasons.

“Really good fastball, good life on the ball,” Dubón said of Sheehan. “We didn’t have a lot of information on him. But he pitched a good game, and just give him props.”

Michael Grove, who had yet to enter a game in the seventh inning, followed Sheehan and tossed two scoreless innings. Brusdar Graterol then navigated a perfect ninth inning to wrap Los Angeles’ third consecutive victory. The Dodgers have allowed just two runs over their last three games.

“We’ve built our success on pitching and defense,” Roberts said. “To minimize walks, to strike guys out, to catch the baseball ... when we do that, the offense should be good enough for us to win.”