Dustin May is out for this season and the Dodgers’ pitching is in a bind.
The Dodgers announced Tuesday that May, who has not pitched since May 17, will undergo surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his right elbow. The 25-year-old right-hander had received an injection of platelet-rich plasma six weeks ago to promote healing in hopes he would not have to go under the knife, a prognosis confirmed over Tuesday’s bank holiday.
The operation will be performed on July 18 by Dr. Neal ElAttrache — the same doctor who performed May’s Tommy John surgery in 2021. May will also undergo a Tommy John revision for a sprain in his UCL 2nd degree, a league source told The Athletic. The hope is he can return for the Dodgers midseason next year.
Hard-throwing May made 15 total appearances after surgery before complaining of an elbow problem after the first inning of a start against the Twins in which he displayed reduced fastball speed. In nine starts this season, May, with a 2.63 ERA in 48 innings, displayed the kind of upward trend that has made him an enticing talent while displaying the same electric skills as he did when he first came out.
It’s a potentially disastrous blow given the state of the Dodgers’ rotation, which put Clayton Kershaw on Monday’s injured list. The Dodgers were only hoping for May’s eventual return, but their need for rotation is urgent. When they started Tuesday, they ranked 17th in baseball with a 4.40 ERA among their starting team, with a number of hurdles forming along the way. Seven different members of the Dodgers’ pitching team were on the injured list at some point this season, including Kershaw, May and Julio Urías — the three main starters the Dodgers hoped to build their rotation around. Walker Buehler, who underwent an operation by Tommy John a year ago, does not belong to this group. Urías has a 4.94 ERA in 11 starts this season. Tony Gonsolin, an All-Star a year ago, has lost a few ticks on his fastball speed this season and his performance has been struggling, with a 3.69 ERA in 12 starts this season and a 6 ERA, 39 in five starts since early June.
From the looks of it, the Dodgers currently have three rookies in their rotation — Michael Grove, Bobby Miller and Tuesday’s starter Emmet Sheehan, along with another starter-pitching contender in their bullpen in Gavin Stone and another in Ryan Pepiot , who has been on the injured list all season due to a weird problem.
An area of the squad that was originally perceived as a strength suddenly collapsed. Despite the great strain Kershaw has endured this season, his shoulder ailment will cause some concern for the remainder of the season. Veterans like Urías and Gonsolin underperformed. Too much is being asked of the talented but untried forces among them. Additionally, the trade market seems cloudy at best, with some of the clubs that have tradable slots operating somewhere in the sport’s mid-table, close enough to post-season competition not to want to give up those pieces.
That presents the Dodgers with a challenge at the end of this month. The club played well enough in 10 games over .500 (47-37) on Tuesday to defeat their starting side. If they get to October, however, it will depend on their ability to overcome injuries like this, the latest in May’s promising career, which has consisted more of brief spurts than sustained success.
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(Photo: Kiyoshi Mio / USA Today)