As the Los Angeles Dodgers ramp up for the 2026 season, Dave Roberts and company have been keeping a close eye on their expansive pitching staff to see who could fill which role when the regular season opens up.
With four certified starters locked up in World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell, two-way unicorn Shohei Ohtani, and Tyler Glasnow, who would be a No. 1 on many teams, the Dodgers have at least three pitchers duking it out for that fifth starting spot in Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan, and Justin Wrobleski, with the “losers” heading to the bullpen for serious innings-eating roles when the opener exits an outing.
Will it be disappointing for the pitchers who don't secure that fifth starter role? Most certainly, but on Saturday, Dave Roberts told reporters like The Athletic's Katie Woo that the organization still views Sheehan and Wrobleski as starters, and will treat them as such “until they're not.”
“Dave Roberts also said the org still views Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski (two innings in today's SS vs. CHC) as starters,” Woo wrote. “They'll be ramped up as such as the Dodgers piece together their rotation. ‘Starters until they're not is the way I think we should look at it.'”
Entering professional baseball in the sixth and 11th rounds of the MLB Amateur Draft, respectively, Sheehan and Wrobleski have gradually worked their way up the ranks for the Dodgers to become certified big arms capable of throwing multiple innings at a time. While they might not begin the year in Roberts' rotation, last season proved that having more than five starters who can go is crucial for a team with World Series ambitions. With Ohtani, Snell, and Glasnow all over 30, who knows, maybe Sheehan or Wrobleski – or even both – could still become long-term starters for LA in the future.
