Dodgers Lose Young Starting Pitcher for 2024 Season Following UCL Surgery

Noah Camras | May 16, 2024

The Los Angeles Dodgers have lost another starting pitcher due to a major elbow surgery.

On Thursday, the team announced right-handed pitcher Emmet Sheehan underwent UCL surgery on Wednesday, and will miss the entire 2024 season.

Dodgers right-handed pitcher Emmet Sheehan underwent right elbow UCL surgery, performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

He's out for the season.

— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) May 16, 2024

The surgery was performed by team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Wednesday.

Sheehan, 24, was thrust into the Dodgers' rotation last year and pitched relatively well. He threw six shutout innings in his debut against the San Francisco Giants, and followed that up with another six-inning performance in which he allowed two runs.

Sheehan then had a rough stretch of games in the middle of the year, but finished very strong, allowing just three earned runs across his final 13.2 innings with an impressive 24 strikeouts.

Sheehan entered the 2024 season hoping to make an impact either as a starter or a swing man, but never got the opportunity to do any of it.

He was shut down in spring training, and opened the season on the injured list. Then, after trying to throw again, was shut down in mid-April after his body wasn't responding well.

It became increasingly clearer that Sheehan wouldn't be an option for the foreseeable future, and on Thursday, a more firm timeline was given by the Dodgers. Sheehan will officially miss the rest of the 2024 season, with an eye towards a 2025 return.