PHILADELPHIA — Emmet Sheehan looked as if he had salvaged another ugly night. A four-run second inning put the Los Angeles Dodgers into an early hole Monday against Cristopher Sánchez, perhaps the frontrunner for the National League Cy Young Award. But by the time Sheehan took the mound to start the sixth inning, the Dodgers had closed to within a run. Sheehan had kept his team in it.

Until his outing fell apart again.

“They came back,” Sheehan said, “then I kind of gave it back to them again after that.”

Then Sheehan fell behind in the count. The 2-0 fastball he threw to Brandon Marsh registered at 92.8 mph, which would have been his fourth-slowest pitch of 2025 but has become the norm for his disappointing 2026.

Velocity is not the only reason things have gone wrong for Sheehan this year, but it does not help. Marsh shot the pitch over the fence for a home run. The night quickly blew open from there, a 10-7 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies that was uglier than the final score and further sank Sheehan’s season.

“Kind of a step back today, which is pretty frustrating,” Sheehan said after feeling like he’d figured some things out going into the All-Star break.

Little has gone right for Sheehan, who has a 5.13 ERA after allowing six runs on Monday night. He falls behind in counts far too often, including against seven of the 11 batters he faced in the game’s first two innings as the Phillies took a 4-0 lead. His fastball velocity is down a tick from the 95.6 mph he averaged a year ago, and that pitch is getting pummeled. When he misses out over the plate, he’s getting crushed. Trea Turner jumped on a particularly appetizing slider for a two-run homer in that ugly second inning.

“That was really a backbreaker early,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Diagnosing Sheehan’s issues has been a game of Whac-A-Mole and the Dodgers haven’t ruled out anything physical as impacting his performance. Sheehan has attributed his diminished velocity and inconsistent results to his pitching mechanics. That cannot explain all of it.

He took the beating in the second inning and then worked quickly through the next three innings. When the Phillies did land a punch, Sheehan’s stuff usually ticked up. There are still flashes of the version of Sheehan the Dodgers expected.

“It’s just really trying to be convicted in his pitch making before he touches the stove,” Roberts said. “I think that when there’s damage or things have happened, then he locks in. (He) raises his level of intensity a little bit more. But it’s just got to be that before things start happening.”

Sheehan has not been good enough. His place in the rotation, however, feels safe. There is not an obvious healthy replacement for a club that already will have to fill Shohei Ohtani’s spot in the rotation for the foreseeable future while he nurses his left knee back to health.

“Certainly he’s getting a lot of opportunity,” Roberts said of Sheehan. “It’s not the consistency that any of us like or want, Emmet included. Until there’s another alternative, we’re going to keep running him out there.”

The Dodgers boast depth for October. They just don’t have access to much in the short term.

Blake Snell has just started a rehab assignment and is multiple starts away from returning to the rotation after surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow. Tyler Glasnow is even further away from pitching in big-league games as his back spasms have kept him out for months. River Ryan has not pitched in the big leagues this year, partially because he’s hurt his left hamstring twice while trying to build up his workload in the minor leagues.

Landon Knack, once seen as a part of the organization’s starting pitching depth, entered when Monday’s game was already out of reach. He promptly surrendered a pair of home runs in his two innings of work.

The Dodgers’ best option might be to keep waiting to see if they can get more out of Sheehan, who had a 2.82 ERA in 73 1/3 innings last year, just more than a year removed from Tommy John surgery.

None of this is expected to change the Dodgers’ approach at next month’s trade deadline, as The Athletic reported. A potential pursuit of Tarik Skubal or others cannot be ruled out, but it is far from a priority. Expect more moves on the margins, such as the club’s acquisition Monday of former Colorado Rockies closer Seth Halvorsen. They hope to find magic with him in their player development system.

The Dodgers, who have a double-digit lead in the National League West, still have time for Sheehan to try to figure it out.

“It’s about performance,” Roberts said. “Emmet knows it. You just got to do it. That’s just the way it goes, you know.”