Twenty-nine hours before his official return to the Dodger Stadium mound, Emmet Sheehan took a moment to get himself reacquainted with his home ballpark.
In an empty Dodger Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, Sheehan walked onto the field at Chavez Ravine, climbed up a slope he hadn’t toed since the 2023 season, and practiced his pitching motion a few times before returning to the clubhouse.
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For Sheehan, such dry tosses are part of his normal pre-start routine. In any ballpark where he pitches, he likes to get a feel for the mound and its surroundings before the game.
The only difference this time: how long it had been since he’d taken the bump in a big-league stadium.
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After an auspicious rookie season in 2023, in which his 4.92 earned-run average belied the potential he flashed with his low-arm-slot and high-velocity delivery, Sheehan missed all of last season and the first three months of this campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
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On Wednesday, he finally completed the long road back, spinning four impressive innings in a 4-3 walk-off win over the San Diego Padres that ended on Will Smith’s pinch-hit home run in the ninth.
“It was awesome,” Sheehan said, after giving up just one run while striking out six batters. “Once I was out there, it was kind of just back in compete mode once you see a hitter in the box. But definitely before and then after, [I was] feeling the emotions of just the past year, for sure.”
A former sixth-round draft pick who blossomed into one of the organization’s top pitching prospects during an impressive minor-league career, Sheehan became one of the Dodgers’ many recent homegrown pitchers to endure a major surgery after injuring his elbow in spring training last year.
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As he worked his way back, though, his relatively seamless recovery process had fueled excitement throughout the organization.
His stuff still looked sharp, from a mid-90s mph fastball to a tantalizing changeup-slider combination. His command had been surprisingly consistent during a minor-league rehab stint, collecting 16 strikeouts against only one walk in three outings with triple-A Oklahoma City.
And against the Padres on Wednesday, the 25-year-old right-hander looked like he had hardly missed a beat.
He threw 65 pitches, 43 for strikes. He didn’t issue a walk, while yielding only three hits. And the lone score…