The Los Angeles Dodgers’ game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday marked the latest disappointing start of Emmet Sheehan’s 2026 season, but manager Dave Roberts insists he still has a spot in the rotation—at least for now.
Sheehan struggled early against the Phillies, allowing four runs in the second inning to put the Dodgers at an early deficit. He allowed two more in the sixth inning—shortly after the Dodgers made it a one-run game—though one came across after he exited the game.
The 26-year-old right-hander has struggled for results this season, with a noticeable dip in his velocity as one of the key issues. Tuesday’s start brought his ERA to 5.13 and the total number of home runs he’s given up to 17, which is second on the team to Roki Sasaki.
“Certainly he’s getting a lot of opportunity,” Roberts said. “It’s not the consistency that any of us like or want, Emmet included. Until there’s another alternative, we’re going to keep running him out there.”
As Roberts said, Sheehan is well aware of his shortcomings, but Monday was especially disappointing. Sheehan made two starts in July prior to the All-Star break and appeared to turn a corner, allowing three earned runs through 9.2 innings pitched.
“Kind of a step back today, which is pretty frustrating,” Sheehan said.
Do the Dodgers Have Other Starting Pitching Options?
If the Dodgers did look to replace Sheehan, they’d have a little bit of trouble—at least for the time being. They recently shut Shohei Ohtani down from pitching due to a knee injury to reduce the size of their rotation to five players.
Blake Snell is on his rehab assignment in Triple-A and is likely to fill the vacant hole in the Dodgers’ rotation, but beyond him, the Dodgers don’t have many options to bring into their core of starters. Tyler Glasnow is on the 60-day injured list, Gavin Stone is yet to throw a pitch this season and River Ryan has been out since late June with a hamstring injury.
The Dodgers could eventually replace Sheehan if he continues to underperform, but given the state of the season and their lack of adequate replacements at the moment means he will remain as a starter for the Dodgers.
