One of the best young pitchers in MLB, Dustin May of the Los Angeles Dodgers will miss at least the next calendar year. The Dodgers announced on Monday that May will undergo right elbow UCL reconstruction (Tommy John) surgery later this month.
May, 23, was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday after experiencing pain in his right elbow in the second inning of Saturday night’s start against the Milwaukee Brewers. May winced after throwing a fastball to Billy McKinney and then immediately motioned to the dugout for a trainer.
He is 1-1 with a 2.74 ERA in five starts this season with 35 strikeouts and six walks in 23 innings. Since his debut with L.A. in 2019, he is 6-5 with a 2.93 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 113 2/3 innings. May finished fifth in National League Rookie of the Year voting last fall.
The Dodgers plan to insert Tony Gonsolin into May’s spot in the starting rotation, but he has yet to pitch this season due to shoulder inflammation. Gonsolin is expected to be ready in 3-4 weeks.
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The 23-year-old May has been a sensation for the Los Angeles Dodgers since jumping on to the scene as a rookie back in 2019. During the truncated 2020 campaign, May pitched to a 3-1 record with a 2.57 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 12 games (10 starts) while striking out 44 batters and yielding a .220 batting average.
With the Los Angeles Dodgers in the midst of a tough stretch that has seen them lose nine of 12, the defending champs could be behind the proverbial eight-ball moving forward.
The good news? They have a tremendous amount of depth in a starting rotation that’s spearheaded by Clayton Kershaw and Trevor Bauer (combined 7-3 record, 2.29 ERA).
(Field Level Media contributed to this report)