Dodgers first – Emmet Sheehan will start Tuesday’s middle game at Petco Park against the San Diego Padres for the Dodgers on four days rest—Los Angeles’ first such start this season. The move comes as the club’s use of four-day rotations has steadily declined in recent years,
Emmet Sheehan is taking the mound for the Dodgers on Tuesday with only four days of rest—Los Angeles’ first start this season on that shorter schedule.
The timing matters. Sheehan gets the start in the middle game of the Dodgers’ series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. It follows a win last Thursday over the San Francisco Giants, when Sheehan allowed two runs in six innings and struck out six.
The Dodgers also reshuffled their rotation to protect Shohei Ohtani’s workload. They swapped rotation slots so Ohtani could start Wednesday’s series finale, directly in front of an off day. The plan is designed to reduce the number of games Ohtani might have to play with next-day fatigue after a pitching start.
For decades, pitching on four days rest was the norm in baseball. Over time, that has faded. In the last few five-year check-ins. the drop hasn’t been dramatic at first—especially when teams look for ways to add extra rest through spot starts. bullpen games. and other workarounds. But the decline became less gradual for the Dodgers, with a slowdown that wasn’t precipitous until 2024.
Last season, after excluding openers, relievers making spot starts, and some late-season “shenanigans,” the Dodgers made 150 real starts. Only nine of those were on four days rest. The other starts split largely between five days’ rest—70—and six days or longer—71.
Through Monday this year, the Dodgers had 15 starts on five days’ rest and 32 starts with longer rest. A bullpen game in Anaheim on Friday is not included in that count.
Several pieces of the Dodgers’ modern pitching picture help explain why four-day rest has become harder to find. Roki Sasaki signed last year and is also on the same extra-rest plan. Ohtani returned to pitching last June. and because he is a two-way player. he does not count against the roster limit of 13 pitchers. That makes it easier for Los Angeles to lean into a six-man starting rotation while keeping a full complement of eight relievers.
Tuesday’s start will be a small milestone in that longer trend: it’s the 30th Dodgers start on four (or fewer) days rest since the start of 2024, which is about a quarter fewer than what the 2023 season alone contained.
Even with all the careful planning around rest and scheduling. what’s happening now is still a reminder of how quickly routine can change. A four-day rest start—once common enough to feel automatic—has become something the Dodgers have to make room for. with rotation swaps and role management doing much of the heavy lifting.
Dodgers Emmet Sheehan four days rest Petco Park San Diego Padres Shohei Ohtani Roki Sasaki rotation pitching schedule 2026 season
So they’re really just like rolling the dice with 4 days rest? That seems unsafe for the pitcher, but I guess it’s “normal” now.
Wait I thought the Dodgers already said they were going with more rest?? This article makes it sound like they’re doing less 4-day starts but still doing it anyway lol. Also Petco Park is rough.
four days rest is crazy… like back in the day it was all 4 days so why did they stop? Is it cuz of Shohei Ohtani or cuz pitchers are just softer now. The part about rotating around Ohtani’s workload confused me.
This is lowkey all just scheduling math. They swapped rotation so Ohtani starts Wednesday, cool. But then they talk about 6-man rotation and relievers and “openers” like I should know all that. Sounds like Dodgers are trying to protect a lineup more than wins.