The Los Angeles Dodgers made the trade of the deadline this year, acquiring dominant starting pitcher Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers.
With that addition, though, there’s too many arms in the Dodgers’ starting rotation, and on Monday, we learned what changes are being made.
Dodgers optioning one starter, keeping another
Manager Dave Roberts confirmed Monday that Emmet Sheehan is being optioned to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets, reports David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports.
Fellow starter Eric Lauer, however, is likely to remain in the rotation.
Sheehan has struggled this season, posting a 4-8 record and 5.29 ERA.
He also has a bWAR of -0.3, the first time he’s gone negative in his career.
Sheehan wasn’t helped, of course, by Sunday’s tough start.
In 2.2 innings of work, he gave up five runs, all earned, on six hits, including three solo homers.
He struck out four batters, but he also walked one and hit another with a pitch.
After the game, he told Vassegh and other reporters that it was just “bad execution.”
“The only thing I can do is try to get better. There’s no other option,” he said in video shared by Adrian Medina of Roundtable Sports.
The Athletic‘s Fabian Ardaya reports that the weak performance is not believed to be injury-related, as Sheehan “has continued to say that he’s healthy.”
“Roberts said that getting him out of a big league environment was best to try to free him up,” Ardaya added.
While Sheehan is departing for the minors, Lauer is expected to start Wednesday’s game against the Cubs, Roberts said.
Skubal is expected to make his Dodgers debut on Tuesday.
What Emmet Sheehan’s departure means for the Dodgers
Replacing Sheehan with Skubal turns what was arguably the weakest spot in the Dodgers’ rotation into the strongest.
After all, Skubal is the reigning back-to-back AL Cy Young winner.
As the Dodgers continue their march toward a World Series three-peat, they’ve bolstered their pitching corps in a way that is likely to intimidate the competition.
What do you think about Emmet Sheehan being optioned to the minors?
One Response
Amen. It was about time. If you can’t contribute, you need to be sent down.