Emmet Sheehan took the next step in his rehab assignment on Saturday night, pitching into the fourth inning for Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Sheehan’s comeback is meaningful in its own right, as he’s less than 13 months from his hybrid Tommy John and internal brace surgery last May, and getting closer to a major league return. But he’s also working his way back to a Dodgers rotation that is in desperate need of help, with Saturday’s news that Tony Gonsolin was placed on the injured list with right elbow discomfort.

Sheehan on Saturday struck out four and wasn’t scored upon in his three innings against Reno. He started the fourth inning by allowing a double and hit a batter, and was pulled after 57 pitches, 18 more than he threw last Sunday with Oklahoma City in three innings.

One of Sheehan’s bequeathed runners scored after he left, making his final line three-plus innings, two hits, one run, a walk, and four strikeouts. In his three rehab starts — one in the Arizona Complex League and two with Oklahoma City — Sheehan has allowed a run in eight innings, striking out 14 of his 30 batters faced with one walk.

Sheehan averaged 95.8 mph on his fastball and topped out at 97.4 mph on Saturday, right in line with his 2023 major league marks. He finished off two strikeouts with his fastball and two more with the slider, and induced five swinging strikes on each pitch.

I would imagine the next step for Sheehan would be to complete four innings and possibly see time in the fifth inning, somewhere in the range of 70-75 pitches, probably next Friday.

I don’t think the Dodgers would necessarily rush Sheehan back, but given that the rotation currently has an open spot and Justin Wrobleski slated to cover Tuesday and Wednesday in San Diego, there’s an argument that whatever Sheehan could give the Dodgers at this point is better than any available call-up for a spot start or bullpen game. Perhaps not this next time through, but certainly after that.