Emmet Sheehan back with Dodgers as extra arm in bullpen

After two weeks with Triple-A Oklahoma City, Emmet Sheehan is back with the Dodgers on his first day eligible to return after 15 days on optional assignment to the minors.

He replaces Edwin Díaz, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with neck inflammation.

Sheehan was in the Dodgers starting rotation since opening day, but had an up-and-down 18 weeks, with a 5.29 ERA and 3.97 xERA in 20 starts, with 108 strikeouts and 30 walks in 95 1/3 innings, averaging under five innings per start. He was optioned to Triple-A on August 3, one day after allowing a season-high three home runs in a loss to the Boston Red Sox, the second time in three starts he allowed at least five runs.

With Oklahoma City, Sheehan made two starts, the first a planned short outing in which he allowed two runs and recorded two outs in the opening frame. Last Wednesday against Albuquerque, Sheehan struck out eight in 5 2/3 scoreless innings, his longest start since going 6 1/3 innings on June 1 against the Diamondbacks in Arizona.

Pitching out of the bullpen seems the best chance for Sheehan to make an impact in the postseason, as the Dodgers rotation currently has Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Blake Snell, and expect to have Tyler Glasnow back next week, with Shohei Ohtani working his way back to the mound, possibly in September. This gives Sheehan more of a runway to curve out a relief role, unlike last year when he was an integral part of a six-man rotation the last few months down the stretch before abruptly switching to relief in October, when he allowed seven runs in 7 1/3 innings in his six postseason appearances.