After failing to acquire a marquee relief pitcher at the July 31 trade deadline, the Los Angeles Dodgers shifted their focus internally to begin evaluating all options for a postseason bullpen. Most notably that included Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May as candidates.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman acknowledged both rookies would potentially make an impact for the the club this season, and both rookies went on to accomplish that after their respective MLB debut.
Although Dodgers manager Dave Roberts deemed it possible Gonsolin and May would be included on the National League Division Series roster, only the latter was selected. May’s postseason debut came in the seventh inning of Game 2, when he inherited two baserunners.
“I just looked at it as another outing. That’s what it is. Another outing, just a little later in the year,” said May, downplaying the significance of pitching in October for the first time in his career.
“I looked at it the same way. You’ve still got to go in and get outs. It was a good situation to go in. I executed then and was just poor in the second inning.”
Although May managed to get the Dodgers out of trouble in the seventh inning, the eighth was a bumpy ride. Ryan Zimmerman’s leadoff double was followed by a walk, and a sacrifice bunt advanced both runners. Asdrubal Cabrera’s RBI single extended the Nationals’ lead to 4-2.
May nonetheless found value in the relief appearance, saying, “It was fun. Execution was pretty poor but it was good to get my feet wet. Hopefully I’ll get back out there soon.”
A starter his entire career, the hard-throwing righty is being utilized as a relief pitcher — and one for high leverage situations. That’s a result of May’s velocity but also is a testament to his mental makeup.
“With Dustin it’s, I know that [Yankees manager Aaron Boone] used the term ‘savage,’ but he’s a savage, man,” Roberts said. “He’s 6’5,” 6’6″ and there’s elbows and it’s a big leg kick and it’s 97 coming at you downhill with a cutter in there and there’s a big head of hair that you’re kind of trying to find the release point, so I just like him and he’s very confident.”
