The World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers open a three game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Dodger Stadium Friday, after sweeping three from the Colorado Rockies.
The Dodgers have now won seven of their last nine games, expanding their lead atop the National League West to nine games, with their ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto set to face the Pirates to open the series.
Before the game, the Dodgers made a pair of roster moves, including optioning an MLB veteran pitcher back to Triple-A just three days after promoting him.
Los Angeles sent right-hander Emmet Sheehan back down to Triple-A Oklahoma City and recalled fellow right-hander Paul Gervase, according to the club’s official transactions log. The move came a quick three days after Sheehan had been summoned from the minors to bolster a bullpen thinned by Edwin Diaz’s placement on the injured list with neck inflammation.
Emmet Sheehan’s Turbulent Season
Sheehan, 26, spent most of 2026 in the rotation before his role flipped entirely. He went 4-8 with a 5.29 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP across 20 starts, striking out 108 batters in 95 1/3 innings, numbers that led the Dodgers to option him to the minors on August 3 once Tarik Skubal joined the rotation following a trade with Detroit.
“For everyone, I think it’s the right thing to do,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of that decision at the time, as quoted by Dodger Blue.
A Darien, Connecticut, product who starred at Boston College before Los Angeles took him in the sixth round of the 2021 draft, Sheehan debuted in 2023 and missed the following season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He returned in 2025 to help the Dodgers win a championship before this year’s command issues resurfaced. His latest recall came as a reliever rather than a starter, and he worked out of the bullpen against Colorado before again heading back to Oklahoma City.
Paul Gervase Rejoins a Taxed Bullpen
GettyPaul Gervase #65 of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Gervase, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound right-hander out of Cary, North Carolina, took a winding path through Pfeiffer University, Wake Technical Community College and Pitt Community College before finishing at LSU, where he closed games for the Tigers.
The New York Mets drafted him in 2022, traded him to the Rays in 2024, and Tampa Bay traded him to Los Angeles the following summer in a deal that also brought catcher Ben Rortvedt to the organization, according to an MLB.com item detailing the trade.
Friday’s recall marks Gervase’s fourth stint with the Dodgers this season. He carries a career MLB ERA of 3.38 across just 16 big league innings, and the club has repeatedly leaned on him as a fresh multi-inning arm rather than a fixed piece of the roster.
The shuffling reflects a bullpen that has been unsteady for months. Diaz struggled after returning from elbow surgery, Blake Treinen remains sidelined on the 60-day injured list, and Justin Wrobleski landed on the injured list this month with forearm inflammation. Tanner Scott has absorbed more high-leverage work, while Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia and Jack Dreyer round out a group Roberts has mixed and matched all season.
Los Angeles enters the weekend at 77-51, comfortably ahead in the West but still chasing the Milwaukee Brewers for the top overall seed in the National League.
Dodgers Announce Sudden Emmet Sheehan Decision Before Pirates Game