Emmet Sheehan’s outing against the San Diego Padres looked like a turning point because it had to be. After a rough start last time out - six runs on eight hits over 3.1 innings - the Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander walked into Petco Park with his rotation spot not officially on the line, but with manager Dave Roberts calling it “a good test.”
Sheehan answered with exactly the kind of response the Dodgers needed. He held the Padres to one run on two hits over five innings, giving Los Angeles a chance to win while showing far more command than he had in his previous outing. Roberts came away calling it a “really encouraging” start.
“For him to get through five innings with a lead, give us a chance to win a ballgame, like I told him after the game, this is something for us to build on, keep going to work this week and be ready for your next one,” Roberts said.
The biggest change, by Sheehan’s own account, came in the work he put in between starts. He spent the past week sharpening pitch execution in bullpen sessions, and he said the difference showed up immediately.
“I felt really good,” Sheehan said. “Execution was a lot better today, so that always helps.
That was the main focus coming into today. Felt good.”
He also pointed to a cleaner feel with his mechanics as part of the equation.
“Maybe being a little more comfortable in my mechanics, but also the focus in between starts of maybe trying to get a little more execution instead of delivery thoughts,” Sheehan said. “I had seven days, so I got to throw two bullpens this week, which was nice.”
Now 26, Sheehan is trying to chip away at a 5.08 ERA across 72.2 innings this season, and he knows the larger task is sticking with the same approach start after start.
“I think you’ve got to try to separate the process from the results as much as possible,” Sheehan said. “I feel really good about the work and process right now, so just trying to build on it.”
His only blemish came on a solo homer by Manny Machado, but the more meaningful part of the night was how he handled the traffic around that pitch. Sheehan kept working out of trouble and stranded runners several times, including a tense fifth inning when he struck out the final batter to leave two men on base.
“He got a couple big strikeouts there,” Roberts said. “I think there was a walk in that fifth inning, but he weathered that.
“He was a hitter away from not finishing that fifth inning. For me, I thought he just beared down and made pitches when he needed to, versus feeling it with the mechanics or being uncertain.
“I thought right there, he was determined to get that last hitter out.”
That ability to stay in the moment is still a work in progress for Sheehan, but Roberts sees movement in the right direction. The Dodgers manager said the right-hander has tended to fall back on mechanical thoughts when things get uncomfortable, and that the next step is learning to push past that during games.
“I think when you don’t feel great, it’s an easy default to focus on your mechanics to try to feel something,” Roberts said. “But in the heat of the moment of a game, you have to find a way to get past that, be external and get the hitter.
“Understand what the game is trying to do and what the game is telling you. He’s not there yet, but he’s getting there. It takes Major League innings to get to that point.
“But he’s getting better and no one questions the skillset.”
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