Sheehan's struggles on suddenly deep staff have rotation spot in flux

LOS ANGELES -- Through all the ups and downs of his season, Emmet Sheehan's place in the Dodgers' rotation has been relatively secure, in no small part because the team has had no better alternatives to fill his spot.

But with the blockbuster acquisition of Tarik Skubal and the impending returns of Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, that may no longer be the case.

Sheehan lasted only 2 2/3 innings while giving up five runs in an 8-4 loss on Sunday, sealing a three-game sweep at the hands of the Red Sox over the weekend at Dodger Stadium. It marked the second time the Dodgers have been swept this season and the team's first series loss since the All-Star break.

"Everyone knows what we think of him," manager Dave Roberts said. "I mean, the talent is there. The care, the preparedness, all that stuff is there. But it's just, when you're pitching in big league games, you've got to get guys out. I don't know where we go from here. We all pull for him, but you've got to perform."

Some of Sheehan's recurring issues were at play. His fastball velocity, which has been down for most of the season, averaged 93.3 mph, his lowest mark in a regular-season game in his career. He allowed multiple homers for the seventh time this season, serving up a season-high three homers in the span of four batters in the third inning. Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu went back to back before Masataka Yoshida tacked on another solo shot.

There have been flashes of upside for Sheehan, who has generated impressive swing-and-miss all season, including 12 whiffs in his abridged outing on Sunday. But he has struggled to string together solid outings and holds a 5.29 ERA through 20 starts.

"I don't know," Sheehan said of his inability to find consistency this season. "If I knew, I would fix it. But I'm going to keep trying to fix it."

While the Dodgers entered the season with enviable starting-pitching depth, they had only five healthy starting pitchers who were fully stretched out on their 40-man roster with Snell (loose bodies in left elbow) and Glasnow (lower back spasms) on the IL and Shohei Ohtani (left knee soreness) taking a break from pitching at the time of the trade for Skubal.

The way the Dodgers saw it, they had no choice but to let Sheehan work through his struggles in the Majors. But in the next week and beyond, they should have some additional options. Skubal is set to slot into the rotation for his Dodgers debut on Tuesday in Chicago. Snell will make his fourth and final rehab start the same day, meaning he could rejoin L.A. the following week. And by the end of the month, Glasnow should be done with his rehab assignment.

Eric Lauer will shift out of the rotation when Skubal slots in, but another starter will likely have to lose his spot when Snell returns. That could be Sheehan, given how his performance has trended.

"We don't need to make that decision right now," Roberts said. "But it is front of mind as far as which direction we go."

The least consistent Dodgers starters this season have been Sheehan and Roki Sasaki. Sasaki has also had his fair share of struggles, but he's shown more of an ability to stack good starts and is trending in a better direction, having posted a 1.50 ERA (three earned runs in 18 innings) in his past three outings.

Sheehan has dealt with delivery issues the entire season, which he believes may be behind his fluctuating fastball velocity. He thinks that he and the coaching staff have identified what he needs to work on to move forward, but the things they've tried have not stuck.

"We're going to explore everything, I think," Sheehan said. "It seems like it's the same stuff, but it's frustrating when you feel like you're doing everything to fix it, and it's not happening."

The Dodgers have seen Sheehan thrive in the big leagues, as he posted a 2.82 ERA in 15 appearances (12 starts) in his return from Tommy John surgery last year. But he hasn't performed to that level this season, and in order to stick with L.A., he'll need to find that version of himself.