The Arizona Diamondbacks are in LA to face the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Emmet Sheehan is back at the center of the conversation because his recent starts have been anything but steady. Over the past month or so, he has allowed anywhere from one run to six, which is the kind of range that can change a game before the middle innings.
That is why Sheehan is drawing notice now. The Dodgers have lost four of the last five games he has started, even though his last two outings were solid against the Padres, the worst offense in baseball. In each of those starts, he gave up one run, worked into the fifth inning and kept the game within reach long enough to suggest the results should have looked better than they did.
For the Diamondbacks, that is part of the appeal of this matchup after they split a series with the Padres and slipped below.500 before heading to Los Angeles. They are trying to reset after that rough stretch, and they view Sheehan as a starter who has not yet settled into a reliable pattern. One observer summed up the feeling bluntly: finally, the Diamondbacks face a normal pitcher.
But the numbers leave room for a harder read. Sheehan has been inconsistent over the past month or so, and the Dodgers’ recent record in his starts suggests that even decent outings have not protected them. That is the friction point here: he has looked sharper lately, yet the team keeps paying for the damage done around him, whether that comes from early traffic, a short leash, or an offense that has not made enough of those games safe.
That is why this start matters more than a routine turn in the rotation. Sheehan’s recent form has improved just enough to raise the standard for what comes next, and Los Angeles now needs one of his steadier nights to break the pattern. If he can carry the Dodgers deeper than he has been able to do over the last month, the result may finally match the outing.
