Former BC Baseball Pitcher Emmet Sheehan Optioned to Triple-A After Promising MLB Season Debut

But only a day later, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported that Sheehan was packing up his bags in the locker room. Los Angeles optioned Sheehan back to the Oklahoma City Comets, the triple-A affiliate of the Dodgers.

Sheehan’s quick demotion comes in the wake of Los Angeles selecting the contract of Jack Little, a former fifth-round pick, who is set to make his major-league pitching debut in the coming days. Pitcher Tony Gonsolin was correspondingly transferred to the 60-day injured list—a theme which is becoming recurrent in the Dodgers’ locker room.

A total of 13 pitchers for Los Angeles are on the injured list, and the move to send Sheehan down came as quite a surprise to some of the Dodgers’ faithful.

Sheehan, a Darien, Conn. native who played two seasons with Fordham Prep and two at the Salisbury School (Conn.) in high school, arrived in Chestnut Hill in 2019. 

The 6-foot-5 righty appeared in 12 games, including one start, and posted a 1-0 record in 14.0 innings with 21 strikeouts.

Sheehan’s breakout season with the Eagles came in 2021 as a junior—which also marked his last season on the Heights. He racked up 106 strikeouts in 76.2 innings for BC and held a 5-5 record with a 4.23 ERA.

The Dodgers selected Sheehan in the sixth round of the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft, and he finally got the call for his MLB debut on June 19, 2023 after recording a 4-1 record with a 1.86 ERA for double-A Tulsa. Sheehan retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced against the San Francisco Giants, including the final six batters of his initial outing.

In May 2024, Sheehan underwent an internal brace procedure to repair his right elbow, which ended his second season in the big leagues. Despite being optioned back to triple-A, his performance on Wednesday is only a positive sign for the former Eagle.