This season is an important one for Dustin May, as the former heralded Los Angeles Dodgers prospect entered 2025 with five years of Major League service time but only 191.2 career innings.
Health has been the biggest hurdle for May in his career, with Tommy John surgery, flexor tendon repair and Tommy John revision, and an esophageal tear procedure all performed since 2021. Each one has stopped May’s season in its tracks in subsequent years. Last season’s bizarre, non-baseball injury was an unfortunate, and scary, cherry on top.
May reached a career milestone with his start against the New York Mets last Monday. Though strange to believe, it was the first time in six Major League seasons that May made a start in June.
He was a late-season call-up in 2019, the 2020 season didn’t begin until July, and others were impacted by injury in one way or another.
May also surpassed his career high in innings pitched for a single year and the 11th start of the season was the most he’s made.
“I feel like I’m in an OK spot. There’s definitely some room to grow, but the biggest thing for me at this point is I’m healthy. I feel healthy, there’s no pain,” May said. “This is my first time pitching in June, so that’s exciting for me. Just got to keep building on what I’m doing.”
May is rediscovering the process that goes into performing over the course of a whole season. He has tried to call upon distant memories for assistance, but it unfortunately isn’t a direct comparison due to the way his body has changed over the years.
Still though, May appreciates the chance he’s had to learn and grow from start to start this year.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to feel healthy and go pitch and compete. Just trying to remember what it felt like in 2019, when I was able to throw a full season and get all of the reps under my belt,” he said.
“It’s kind of hard to feel the same things, because it’s a different body and it’s a different way that I feel now than I did then. But it’s a good thing to build off of.”
Because of how well he’s been able to manage on his own, May doesn’t necessarily plan on asking for advice from his teammates about pitching at this point in the season.
“I feel good. I’ve been recovering very well, I’ve been doing my routine in between starts. It’s kind of the same as it’s always been, I’m just not in pain,” he said.
Bright spots in Dustin May’s 2025 season
The results have been mixed for May this season as he overcame a 685-day MLB hiatus, but there have been flashes of his old self. The ERA doesn’t jump off the screen, but he has pitched at least five innings and allowed three or fewer runs in eight of 11 starts this season.
Additionally, May’s 63 strikeouts places him in the top-50 among all pitchers.
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