Until he got to college, Emmet Sheehan was just an ordinary pitcher throwing in the low 90s that nobody paid any attention to.
After changing his arm angle during his junior season of college, his velocity shot up dramatically, and he grew into a flame-thrower touching 99 mph.
He wasn’t even on his club’s prospect rankings through his second minor-league season, but he broke out in year three and jumped straight from Double-A to the majors.
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The Ordinary Pitcher Emmet Sheehan
Born on November 15, 1999 in New York City, New York, he moved with his family to Darien, Connecticut at age five. He attended Fordham Prep in the Bronx for three years before transferring to Salisbury School in Connecticut, where he finished his schooling. He then went on to Boston College, where he played three seasons of college baseball for the Boston College Eagles.
He didn’t stand out much in his freshman and sophomore years, and remained an unremarkable pitcher through his junior season, going 5-5 with a 4.23 ERA and 106 strikeouts over 76⅔ innings. During his college years, he played in summer collegiate leagues for the Bristol Blues and New Britain Bees of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League in 2018 and 2020 respectively, earning FCBL All-Star honors in 2018 and All-Star honors with the Danbury Westerners of the New England Collegiate League in 2019.
His velocity, which had been stuck at just 90-93 mph, jumped sharply after he changed his arm angle, reaching the upper 90s and catching the attention of MLB clubs. Following his junior season, he entered professional baseball when the Los Angeles Dodgers selected him in the 6th round (192nd overall) of the 2021 MLB Draft, signing for a $244,500 bonus.
After signing, he began his professional career with the Rookie-level ACL Dodgers, then progressed through Low-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and High-A Great Lakes Loons. Sheehan developed steadily in the minors, taking the unusual path of skipping Triple-A entirely and being called straight up to the majors from Double-A.
2021–2022: Growing Into a 99 mph Flame-Thrower
- 2021 (3 teams, minors): 7 games, 3-0, 5.17 ERA, 15⅔ IP, 34 K, 8 BB, 2 HR allowed
- 2022 (2 teams, minors): 20 games (14 starts), 7-2, 2.91 ERA, 68 IP, 106 K
After signing, he was assigned to the Rookie-level ACL Dodgers, but was promoted to Low-A Rancho Cucamonga after just one inning that season, and finished the year at High-A Great Lakes. Across three teams, he appeared in 7 games, going 3-0 with a 5.17 ERA and 34 strikeouts over 15⅔ innings in his first professional season.
In 2022, he pitched well at High-A Great Lakes, appearing in 18 games (12 starts) with a sub-3.00 ERA, and was promoted to Double-A Tulsa Drillers late in the season, where he added two more starts. He went 7-2 over 63⅔ innings with a 2.91 ERA and 106 strikeouts, building his reputation as a prospect.
He wasn’t even on his club’s prospect rankings at the start of the season, but he kept turning in impressive month-by-month performances — 5 runs allowed over 10.0 innings in June, 3 runs over 20.2 innings in July, 2 earned runs over 10.0 innings in August, and 1 run with 9 strikeouts over 5.0 innings in September — earning growing recognition as an in-house prospect. After the season, he was named a top pitcher of the week in the Arizona Fall League.
2023: A Dazzling Debut With 6 No-Hit Innings
- 2023 (2 teams, minors): 15 games (11 starts), 4-2, 2.43 ERA, 63 IP, 102 K
- 2023 LA Dodgers: 13 games, 4-1, 1 save, 60⅓ IP, 4.92 ERA, 1.193 WHIP, 0.5 fWAR, 0.3 bWAR
In 2023, he was dominant at Double-A, going 4-1 with a 1.86 ERA and 88 strikeouts over 53⅓ innings across 12 appearances (10 starts). On the strength of that performance, he skipped Triple-A entirely and was called straight up to the majors, making his major-league debut as a starter against the San Francisco Giants on June 16.
In his debut, he threw a near-perfect outing — 6 no-hit, scoreless innings with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts — but didn’t factor in the decision after the bullpen allowed runs; still, the performance drew immediate attention. On June 23 against the Houston Astros, he gave up his first big-league hits, allowing back-to-back home runs to Mauricio Dubón and Kyle Tucker in the 4th inning, but settled down afterward to finish with 6 innings, 4 strikeouts, and 2 runs allowed, picking up his first career win thanks to a strong bullpen effort.
On June 29 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, he picked up his second win of the season, going 5 innings with 7 hits allowed, 5 strikeouts, and 3 runs. His first three starts made an immediate splash, but his numbers fell off sharply afterward, and he finished with a 4.92 ERA over 13 games and 60⅓ innings.
2024: Tommy John Surgery and a Lost Season
He experienced shoulder soreness during 2024 spring training and began the season on the injured list. He ultimately underwent Tommy John surgery (right elbow ligament reconstruction) on April 12 and missed the entire season.
2025: Leading a Shaky Dodgers Rotation to the Postseason
- 2025 LA Dodgers: 15 games, 6-3, 0 saves, 0 holds, 73⅓ IP, 2.82 ERA, 0.968 WHIP, 2.1 fWAR, 1.0 bWAR
After a long rehab from Tommy John surgery, he made a successful return with a minor-league rehab start on June 2, throwing 3 scoreless innings with 2 hits allowed and 5 strikeouts. He rejoined the major-league rotation on June 18 against the San Diego Padres, throwing 4 innings with 3 hits allowed, 6 strikeouts, and 1 run.
On August 25 against the Cincinnati Reds, he turned in a dominant outing — 7 scoreless innings, 2 hits allowed, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts — and picked up the win. On September 9 against the Colorado Rockies, he carried a no-hitter into the 6th inning before allowing a run, finishing with 7 innings, 3 hits allowed, 1 run, and 9 strikeouts.
In his final start of the regular season against the San Francisco Giants on September 21, he again delivered a dominant performance — 7 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts — but the bullpen couldn’t secure the win. Over the regular season, making 12 starts and 3 relief appearances, he went 6-3 with a 2.82 ERA and 89 strikeouts, helping lead the Dodgers to the postseason.
In the postseason, he moved to a bullpen role. In Game 4 of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies on October 9, he pitched the 7th inning, allowing 1 run on 2 hits with 1 strikeout over 1 inning. In Game 1 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays on October 24, he entered in relief with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the 6th, but was pulled after allowing a hit, a bases-loaded walk, and another hit — finishing with a rough line of ⅓ inning, 2 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs allowed.
The Dodgers went on to clinch the World Series title in a tightly contested Game 7, and Sheehan earned his first career World Series championship ring.
2026
In the 2026 season, he has continued to shuttle between the majors and minors while working as a starting pitcher.
Emmet Sheehan’s Stats
MLB career (2 seasons): 28 games, 10-4, 1 save, 0 holds, 133⅔ IP, 3.77 ERA, 95 H, 18 HR allowed, 48 BB, 3 HBP, 153 K, 1.070 WHIP, 2.6 fWAR, 1.3 bWAR
- Postseason career (1 season): 1 game, 0-0, 0 saves, 0 holds, 3⅔ IP, 7.36 ERA, 4 H, 1 HR allowed, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4 K, 1.636 WHIP
- Minor-league career: 48 games (33 starts), 15-5, 3.08 ERA, 166⅓ IP, 278 K, 70 BB, 15 HR allowed
He became just the third pitcher in MLB history to throw at least 6 no-hit innings in his major-league debut. He also became the first pitcher in MLB history to go at least 12 innings combined while allowing 3 hits or fewer across his first two career starts.
A pitcher who once barely touched 90 mph transformed into a true power pitcher after changing his arm angle, now sitting at 94-96 mph and touching as high as 99 mph with his four-seam fastball. His slider, thrown around 86 mph, is his signature pitch — he throws it at an especially high 51% usage rate against right-handed hitters, giving him some of the best raw stuff in the league. He rounds out his arsenal with a changeup around 85 mph and a curveball around 75 mph.
Notably, he has been especially dominant against the division-rival San Francisco Giants. In his debut season of 2023, he didn’t allow a single hit against the Giants across 2 starts and 10⅔ innings, and he continued that Giant-killer form in his comeback season of 2025, going 1-0 with a 0.79 ERA and 13 strikeouts over 11⅓ innings across 2 starts against them.
Emmet Sheehan’s Awards & Career History
- 2021 — Drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6th round, 192nd overall, MLB Draft
- 2022 — Arizona Fall League (AFL) Pitcher of the Week
- 2023 — Texas League (TEX) Pitcher of the Month
- 2023 — Texas League Postseason All-Star
- 2023 — Baseball America Double-A All-Star
- 2025 — Pacific Coast League (PCL) Pitcher of the Week
- 2025 — World Series Champion (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Emmet Sheehan’s Salary
On a Dodgers roster with a $400 million payroll packed with superstars earning tens of millions — Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki — Sheehan holds down a rotation spot on the league-minimum salary of $810,000. He’s the pitcher who changed his entire career with a single arm-angle adjustment: Emmet Sheehan.
Emmet Sheehan Bio
- English : Emmet Sheehan | Full name: George Emmet Sheehan
- Date of birth: November 15, 1999 (age 27)
- Hometown: New York City, New York, USA (moved to Darien, Connecticut at age 5) | Nationality: American
- Height: 196cm | Weight: 99kg | Blood type: – | MBTI: – | Religion: –
- Education: Fordham Prep → Salisbury School → Boston College
- Bats/Throws: Right/Right | Position: Starting Pitcher
- Uniform number: 80 / Walk-up song: –
- 2026 salary: $810,000 (Pre-Arb) | Agent: –
- Team history: Los Angeles Dodgers (2023–present)
- Debut year: 2023
- Family: Unmarried
- Personal SNS: Instagram / X
Wikipedia
MLB.com