With the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation facing challenges, it is vital Dustin May and the other healthy options begin to step up with more consistent and quality performances.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been phenomenal this season, but the other three long-term options are all at various stages of knocking off rust from their time away.
Unlike Clayton Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin, May has been in the Dodgers rotation since the 2025 season began. But he has also spent the most time of the three dealing with injuries prior to this season, so he is still finding his footing back in the Majors despite making nine starts so far in 2025.
May showed flashes of his old self during his first three starts, but has had some bumps along the way. Wednesday’s start against the Arizona Diamondbacks was perhaps his most complete outing of the season.
May’s 14 whiffs matched a career high that was initially set earlier this season. But with respect to the Colorado Rockies, the accomplishment is much more significant coming against a Diamondbacks offense that poses more of a threat and is ranked higher.
“I was able to establish the fastball early. The sweeper was going in and out, was being able to land it when I needed to. I was getting ahead of guys and they were getting themselves out. So it was good,” May said.
After a mixed-bag outing against the Los Angeles Angels his last time on the mound, May was satisfied by his response against the Diamondbacks.
“I mean, it’s always good to go out and give the guys in the bullpen a break,” he said. “Being able to go six is huge. Being able to keep a few runs off the board is always good, too. And then Teo came up huge and hit a three-run homer. Played really good defense behind me, and it’s a good team win.”
Feeling much better physically on Wednesday in comparison to his previous start made a big difference in his ability to execute more often.
“I felt much better today physically than I did the last outing. Just felt way more in tune with myself, and was able to execute some more throws,” May noted.
Wednesday’s start is the best evidence that May is beginning to get into the swing of things as the season progresses.
“I mean, it’s been a long time since I’ve thrown eight starts. So it’s getting back into the spots that I feel like I need to and being able to come in every day and get my work in, and just being able to replicate stuff when I go out on the mound,” he said.
With his next outing, May will surpass the number of appearances he made in 2024, marking his most starts in a season since 2020.
Dave Roberts credits Dustin May
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was impressed with May’s start against the Diamondbacks and placed it above any other he’s made this season.
“Certainly much better than his last one. Ironically, his two best were against this ball club, which is very offensive, very balanced,” Roberts said. “But I think for me, tonight was the best he’s thrown the baseball. Regular rest, short rest, whatever you want to call it, I just thought he stayed in his delivery consistently tonight.
“I thought he was pounding the strike zone. I thought his stuff played late in the hitting zone. There was swing and miss, there was some soft contact, and they just felt that he was in control all night long.”
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