On May 1, the Los Angeles Dodgers lost Dustin May for the season when he tore his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in a start against the Milwaukee Brewers and underwent Tommy John surgery.
Considering a normal timeline for recovery from Tommy John and the Dodgers’ history of erring on the side of caution, May is not expected to return until after the 2022 All-Star Game.
However, the right-hander recently resumed throwing and revealed that his recovery has been going smoothly.
While things are going well, May also revealed there are struggles to the lengthy rehab process, via the Dodgers’ official YouTube channel:
“Probably the biggest struggle that I’ve faced is just knowing that there’s so much time in between. So knowing that I have to take off about 14 to 15 months from being back with the squad is probably the biggest thing for me, because I’ve never really had to take time off. So me having to wait that long to pretty much go pitch again, it’s been hard. But there’s been a lot of things that I’ve talked to Amelia about, we’ve talked through it, and I’m in a good spot. I was talking with a couple buddies the other day, the first day throwing it honestly felt something like a forbidden fruit.
“Like you’re not supposed to be doing this yet because I’d been told for so long, ‘Don’t do this, don’t do this.’ So being able to do it for the first time, it felt really foreign. But after the first few throws, it was just like riding a bike. It was back to normal. … To be at the stadium, to have a place to come every day and get my workout in has been really great. Being able to throw is a pretty phenomenal feeling. Having to take six months off and to be able to get back into it was a lot of fun. Just would like to get back, show that I’m healthy, get back on the mound and contribute.”
Although the MLB lockout prevents players from having contact with teams and using their facilities, the Players’ Association guidelines say those who were injured and rehabbing prior to the lockout can still access team facilities for their recovery until being medically cleared.
May went 1-1 with a 2.74 ERA, 3.30 FIP and 0.96 WHIP in 23 innings pitched across five starts this year. He improved in several areas, including increasing his strikeouts per nine innings from 7.1 to 13.1, and lowering his hits per nine from 7.2 to 6.3.
Dodgers free agent Danny Duffy underwent surgery
The Dodgers acquired Danny Duffy while he was on the 10-day injured list at the trade deadline to help bolster their pitching staff, but the left-hander was never able to return to the field.
The 32-year-old was recovering from a left flexor strain the Dodgers felt he could return from before the season ended, but Duffy suffered a setback in September and was ruled out for the year.
He continued to deal with elbow pain and while his doctor determined he would not need Tommy John surgery, Duffy still needed surgery to fix his flexor tendon that he received in late October.
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