It is the stuff that every kid dreams of – the stull of fantasies and eventual legends. A minor league pitching prospect gets the ‘Call Up’ to ‘The Show’ and not only succeeds in their major league debut, but does so in epic and historic fashion. For Dodgers fans, they last saw it with a young 20-year-old left-hander named Clayton Kershaw, and before that with a ridiculously young 19-year-old left-hander named Fernando Valenzuela – and we all know how those careers will and did end respectively.

It happened again on Friday night, June 16, 2023. Twenty-three year old Dodgers right-handed pitching prospect Emmet Sheehan not only receive the ‘Call Up,’ but did so from Double-A Tulsa, not Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he never so much as made a single pitch.

The stuff that every kid dreams of … and eventual legends.

All the New York, NY native and Dodgers sixth round draft pick in 2021 out of Boston College did was pitch six scoreless – and hitless – innings against the San Francisco Giants in front of a Dodger Stadium crowd of 49,074 that included his mom, dad, and closest friends. Along the way, the blond 6′-5″ / 220-pound hard-throwing right-hander (who bears a striking resemblance to former Dodger great and notorious prankster Jerry Reuss) walked two and struck out three in his historic MLB debut, handing the Dodgers bullpen a strong 4-0 lead over The Hated Ones.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the seemingly always ineffective Dodgers bullpen was ineffective … again.

Whereas Sheehan allowed no run or hits, Messrs. Brusdar Graterol, Victor González, Tayler Scott, Nick Robertson, Caleb Ferguson, and Alex Vesia allowed a combined seven runs on eight hits, thereby denying young Sheehan of what absolutely positively should have been his first major league win but ended in a 7-5 Dodgers loss.

Putting that aside (but only for a moment), Dodgers manager Dave Roberts echoed what we all felt about Sheehan’s remarkable MLB debut:

“It was a special moment he’ll remember forever. He had a big group supporting him tonight as far as family, friends, and he delivered,” said Roberts. “I mean, it was fun to watch, very very excited for him, and we made some nice plays behind him. But you could see the adrenaline, the emotion. He’s still celebrating with family right now. I wish we could have ended it with a win, got him his first major league win, but man, tremendous performance.”

Did Roberts make the right call by pulling Sheehan from a no-hitter after only six innings? From a fan’s perspective, certainly not. But from a managerial perspective, absolutely. The young right-hander with a ridiculous four-seam fastball that frequently topped the century mark had made 89 pitches, of which 51 were strikes – not to mention the fact that complete games are very much a thing of the past.

“It was a pretty easy decision,” Roberts told reporters postgame. “I was actually contemplating it after five innings, given his usage that he’s had. But given the state of the bullpen, I was trying to squeeze another inning. To get him through the sixth inning, I thought, was huge. He wasn’t going to finish the game. As a fan, you hope for that. But that wasn’t going to happen in any universe.”

“Given the state of the bullpen,” indeed.

Play Ball!

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