Sheehan (7 scoreless, 10 K's) could be valuable postseason asset for LA

LOS ANGELES -- Last offseason, fresh off winning the World Series, the Dodgers wasted no time in constructing one of the deepest rotations in baseball.

Lost among the star-studded names and established big leaguers was Emmet Sheehan, who was set to miss the first couple of months while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery as it was.

Since making his season debut in June, Sheehan has been quite the trick up the Dodgers' sleeve. He continued a strong second big league season by striking out 10 across seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball, although the Giants rallied late for a 3-1 win on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

"He’s certainly gained a lot of confidence. The pitch-making, the quality of stuff, it’s been a great story this year," manager Dave Roberts said. "He’s gonna impact us in the postseason in some capacity."

It was the Dodgers' regular-season home finale, in which they surpassed 4 million fans in attendance in a season for the first time in franchise history. They'll close out the 2025 campaign on the road in Arizona and Seattle, where they'll look to lock down the NL West. They lead the Padres by three games with six left to play.

Sheehan became the seventh Dodger in the past 125 seasons with 10-plus strikeouts, no walks and one or no hits in a game, and the first since Clayton Kershaw on April 13, 2022.

"I think his stuff kind of progressively got better as we got deeper and deeper in the game," catcher Dalton Rushing said. "It allowed us to kind of go back to the plan of how his stuff works."

After his latest gem, Sheehan has a 2.86 ERA in 72 1/3 innings this year. But he's Los Angeles' sixth starter, meaning he should be bound for the 'pen in the postseason.

As it turns out, that might be where the Dodgers need him most.

After L.A. briefly led on a Michael Conforto RBI single, the Giants stormed ahead for three runs in the top of the eighth off Blake Treinen. He is one of several righty relievers who have struggled this season, along with Michael Kopech (who is on the 15-day IL) and Kirby Yates.

In the final week of the regular season, the Dodgers are figuring out who they can trust in a postseason bullpen. Roberts said he "absolutely" would trust Sheehan in leverage.

Sheehan has pitched in relief, but he hasn't been used in a short-burst leverage role as a professional. He does have some prior exposure to the postseason, having pitched in long relief as a rookie in the 2023 NL Division Series.

"It's definitely nice to have a little bit of experience going into it," Sheehan said.

Roberts managed Sheehan on Sunday with that in mind, not pushing him past 84 pitches even though he was dealing. That decision was made with the idea of having Sheehan start on regular rest for the second time this season on Friday in Seattle, which would allow him to be available in relief in a Wild Card Series, set to begin next Tuesday, Sept. 30.

With the Triple-A season coming to a close, there are even more options that L.A. could try to take a look at in the final six games, including Roki Sasaki, Brock Stewart and Kyle Hurt -- all of whom tossed a scoreless inning for Oklahoma City on Sunday.

Sasaki and Stewart are set to join the Dodgers in Arizona on Tuesday, per Roberts. Stewart is likely to be activated at some point during that series, while there are still conversations to be had on whether Sasaki will pitch in relief for the first time in the big leagues. The earliest he would be available is Wednesday.

"He's done what he needs to do to get an opportunity," Roberts said of Sasaki.

As for Treinen, who entered Sunday having allowed eight runs (six earned) with seven walks in his last 4 2/3 innings, the Dodgers are banking on the veteran being able to flip a switch during the postseason.

"Certainly, I'd like to see some more consistent performance," Roberts said. "But at the end of the day, there's going to be certain guys that I feel that we're going to go to in leverage, and certain guys we're not going to. My trust in him is unwavering, and so I still feel very confident when I call to the bullpen and Blake comes in the game."