Emmet Sheehan, 2026 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

Emmet Sheehan came back from Tommy John last year, almost exactly 13 months from the surgery, and went 2.82 ERA, 0.97 WHIP with 10.9 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 in 73 1/3 IP. Um, how is he a sleeper? He’s an ace. Is he not an ace? Sure, he has five guys in front of him that are also aces, but at least four of them are not capable of 150 innings, possibly not 100, if we’re being real about Roki and Glasnow. Oh, and since I mentioned him, is Roki in front of Sheehan? Roki, the closer last postseason, that guy? Clearly, Roki’s not the closer this year, because of the addition of Edwin Diaz, but Roki’s borderline in front of Emmet. They’re likely the Dodgers’ 5A and 5B starter. I only say that because they have paid Roki a lot of money, but I can talk myself out of that reason because they’ve paid everyone a lot of money. Dodgers gave their 6th inning mop-up guy a lot of money. They’re deferring $45 million on Brusdar. (Not really, I’m using exaggeration here to prove a point, don’t come at me with facts, bro.) My point is the Dodgers will go with the best guy for the 5th starter job, whether he’s making money or not. Roki could be that guy, I’m not selling him short just because he didn’t start last year. Emmet Sheehan could be the guy. They could just go with a six-man rotation too. If Emmet is pitching well, as I think he will, there’s no reason why he won’t start. So, what can we expect from Emmet Sheehan for 2026 fantasy baseball, and what makes him a sleeper?

Psyche! All of my 2026 fantasy baseball rankings are on the Patreon. Don’t wait for the rankings to come out next month.

Psyche II: We’re doing a $150 Draft Champions league — 50 rounds, 4 hour, starts Friday at noon, but it’s a slow draft so you don’t have to be near a computer. If you want: JOIN THE LEAGUE — if not, no big deal. Anyway II, the Emmet Sheehan sleeper:

In Triple-A last year, Emmet Sheehan rehabbed from Tommy John by throwing 19 2/3 IP with a 16.5 K/9, 0.9 BB/9. I know, I know, it’s Triple-A, but he’s only thrown 133 2/3 IP in the majors in his career and 73 1/3 IP of them came after that Triple-A stint. I’m Cust kayin’ here that he was basically a minor leaguer still when he had a 16.5 K/9 and a 0.9 BB/9. To put it plainly to you, these numbers are ridiculous. Let’s look at colors:

This is from a guy with barely a season of MLB. I am humma-humma-humma’ing. I’m going caca-cuckoo. I am at Old Navy being fitted for a straitjacket.

Let’s check in on the specifics of Emmet Sheehan. Sheeh we? Yes, we Sheeh! His four-seamer at 96 MPH elicited a .214 BAA, and he threw it 46.8% of the time. Okay, you ready for the slam to your noggin that’s gonna sting? Brace yourself now. Okay, here it is: That’s his third best pitch! I legit snorted at that. His slider, that he threw 30.4% of the time, had a .162 BAA. That was the same (thereabouts) as Josh Hader (.160), Garrett Whitlock (.160) and Eury Perez (.167). Okay, are you ready for your dopey noggin to get slammed again? To get absolutely housed in the melon? Okay, here it comes: His slider was only his 2nd best pitch! HAHAHAHAHA–breathe, Grey, breathe!–HAHAHAHAHAHAHA–I can’t even. I have stopped being able to even. His change elicited a .146 BAA and he threw it 16.7% of the time. Tarik Skubal’s change was .154 BAA . He threw it a lot more, but, ya know, opportunities. Skenes too at .103. I’m cherrypicking the best pitchers in baseball and comparing them to Emmet Sheehan. That’s pretty good for Sheehan!

As I say a lot, throwing less innings the previous year isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A guy throwing 200 innings is possibly the bigger red flag. A guy like Emmet Sheehan, who has very few innings on his arm, could be ready to throw a bunch of innings. Like I said in the opening, I don’t know how the Dodgers will work their rotation. Maybe Sheehan only throws 120 IP because that’s all they need, but my guess is he could throw 140+ IP comfortably. He’s already 26, so he could even throw 160 innings, but I doubt the Dodgers need-slash-want to push him that hard. Still, 135 innings of ace throwing? Yes, sign me up. For 2026, I’ll give Emmet Sheehan projections of 10-4/3.18/1.03/158 in 136 IP with a chance for much more.