Rookie Emmet Sheehan was supposed to get the last spot in the Dodgers’ 2024 rotation behind Bobby Miller after a decent 60 1/3 innings in his debut season, but he was shut down during spring training with shoulder soreness and didn’t pitch before the team announced he’d undergoneTommy John in May. This year, Sheehan is finally making his way back, and his first rehab appearance in Triple-A is giving the Dodgers reason to be optimistic.

Sheehan pitched three innings for the Comets on Sunday, giving up just two hits, no walks, and no runs while striking out five batters.

He started his rehab assignment in Rookie Ball on May 26 and made one start — two hitless innings, five Ks — before moving on to Oklahoma City, and Jack Harris of the LA Times reported that the Dodgers have been “very excited” with the way Sheehan has progressed coming back from Tommy John.

They’ll probably want to get him to at least five innings in Triple-A before bringing him back to the majors, but his return couldn’t come at a better time, as none of Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, nor Roki Sasaki have clearcut timelines to return.

Emmet Sheehan’s first Triple-A rehab start could be a sign of Dodgers pitching depth coming back to life

Sheehan made a statement in his 2023 debut, when he pitched six no-hit innings his first time on a major league mound, and then followed it up with another quality outing a week later. Although he started showing some pretty significant cracks after that (including a 3 2/3, eight-hit, eight-run, five-walk appearance against the Rangers), he ended the season on a high note with another quality start against the Rockies (and he did it in Colorado).

The Dodgers rotation is hanging on by a thread with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw, and Landon Knack, and all but Yamamoto come with worrisome qualifiers. May and Gonsolin started their seasons hot, but have struggled lately, Kershaw still hasn’t pitched more than five innings, and Knack blows hot and cold. None of them are pitching every five days, leaving more responsibility to the bullpen, which is also getting hit by a rash of injuries.

Sheehan doesn’t need to return and immediately get back to pitching quality starts every time, but the Dodgers need anything that will help take some more pressure off the bullpen.