May 12: May underwent surgery today, as he announced himself on Twitter.
May 3, 4:06pm: May will undergo Tommy John surgery, the Dodgers announced (Twitter link via Juan Toribio of MLB.com). He’ll miss the rest of this season and likely a sizable portion of the 2022 campaign.
2:44pm: Dodgers right-hander Dustin May left Saturday’s start in the second inning due to an arm injury, and the initial news isn’t good. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports (Twitter link) that May has suffered some damage to his right UCL, and he and the “Dodgers will make [an] official decision on how to proceed in the next 24 hours.”
The worst-case scenario, of course, would be a Tommy John surgery that would keep May on the shelf for the next 13-15 months. Depending on the severity of the UCL damage, May could first opt to rest and rehab his elbow in an attempt to pitch through the discomfort — Masahiro Tanaka is probably the most well-known example of a pitcher who avoided TJ surgery and went on to pitch for years with little issue despite a tear in his UCL. That said, Tanaka is a rare case, and if May spends time rehabbing his elbow and then has to undergo a Tommy John procedure anyway, the added time could run him the risk of missing the entire 2022 campaign.
Regardless, it’s an all-around tough situation for a 23-year-old hurler who seemed to be on pace to be the Dodgers’ next great homegrown pitcher. A third-round pick in the 2016 draft, May was regarded as one of baseball’s best prospects during his time in the Los Angeles farm system, and he has a 2.93 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, and an impressive 5.9% walk rate over 113 2/3 innings in the big leagues. He has also logged 14 postseason innings, with 10 2/3 of those frames coming during the Dodgers’ run to the World Series last fall.
Los Angeles plans to have Tony Gonsolin step into May’s open rotation spot, though Gonsolin has yet to pitch this year due to shoulder inflammation, and will require an estimated 3-4 weeks to get fully ramped up. The Dodgers could make do with a four-man rotation until Gonsolin is ready, and David Price doesn’t appear to be a starting option since he is also still recovering from a hamstring strain.
With a starting four of Trevor Bauer, Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias, and Walker Buehler, it’s hard to say the Dodgers are exactly hurting for rotation help. If May does indeed end up missing an extended amount of time, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team sign an innings-eating veteran to a minor league deal in the short term, and L.A. could certainly eye a bigger-name hurler at the trade deadline.
Cue the ” I knew it would happen” Homers……….
Grandstanding at its finest.
We were due for a TJS story. Once a week occurrence.
I had absolutely no clue something like this ever happens. What oh what shall they do?
Yuck. Velocity and TJS.
Agreed. The young pitchers today want to show off and think it shows some type of “swag” or that it’s cool, but I would think a longer, injury-free career would be better than coming out with a bang that doesn’t last long.
Seriously? It’s just kids who want to look cool? There isn’t an overwhelming industry premium focused on high velocity pitchers? Any pitcher in the game is doing whatever it takes to make it to the big leagues. If that means higher velocity with risks, they take it. Awful take here.
Its the higher spinrate and the extra torque it puts on the elbow. Its becoming clear that demanding pitchers throw at 100% every pitch is causing lots of extra injuries. Time to return to pitching to contact.
The faster the pitch and the higher the spin rate, the bigger the salary. No wonder why these kids are blowing their arms out. They all want that Verlander, Scherzer money.
I don’t know.. he does look pretty darn cool out there with that fire swag hair doo..
right because greg maddux and tom glavine had to throw 101 to get people to notice them
HAHAHHHAA
Darn cool?? He looks like the redhead in the movie MASK.
Maddux and Glavine both threw 93 MPH when they were called up, which was much harder than the average back then. That’s what got them the opportunity.
You’re leaving the possibility that the teams tend to hire fast ball pitchers these days. High salary and TJS are only what follows after.
True because guys throwing 91 never get TJ. Its not like there is NO CORRELATION AT ALL WITH VELO AND TJ.
Marco Gonzalez had tj and he doesn’t throw hard
“Throwing hard” is also relative. Max effort for some guys might be throwing 92 mph. Max effort for a guy like May is 101 mph. So….
Its not how hard they throw in relation to other pitchers, it is the amount they excerpt themselves personally. Mechanics also play a role, pointing at a guy and saying he yhrows 100 mph he’ll need one day need TJ surgery wouldnt really work. However there are limitations for the human body and most pitchers are toeing that line to get to the big league level.
Steve Nebraska, how dare you bring in facts and evidence here? Egon made it quite clear that the ‘kids’ (like 37 year old Justin Verlander) are all getting Tommy John surgery and missing 18 months because it’s the cool thing to do. No evidence needed to support that assertion. It’s gospel.
Wait.. how hard did Tommy John actually throw? Tommy came back to form a lot faster than a lot of these younger kids how throw 100mph. I’m guessing he sat around 88mph?
Doc Brown and Marty McFly lived on 88MPH
What about the position players?
Not surprised
Thanks for your insight
It is actually “you’re”. Thank you.
bruh… You are insight?
Go drink some Dr Thunder.
No…Its actually “your”….Nice try though!
astick
It is actually “you’re”. Thank you.
=========================================
I’m not a big fan of people that have nothing better to do than to correct another person’s grammar.
But, if you don’t know the rules, then you look completely stupid when you try to correct someone.
Sorry astick. Your is correct. Not a good idea to try and score points by mocking others…incorrectly.
Man it just seems like people are dropping like flies this season. Not one specific team either, everyone seems to be getting big hits.
Sonofa
any time a pitcher motions for the trainer to come out immediately, its not good
Kids got a bright future
dang, that’s rough. the trials of young pitching.
Have the surgery and come back strong in 2023.
Hate to see it. He was fun to watch. Coming from a Padres fan.
Very unfortunate. So much potential there. Strasburg never hit 100 mph except maybe 1 time after his Tommy John surgery (If May has it, very likely.) Maybe this is Bauer’s opportunity to go every 4th day. But I don’t think the organization will go for that when they have Gonsolin or Price. One of them will probably be the 5th starter.
Might be Gray, he ready but needs to be built up to 6 innings as spring training games just started. Gray was scheduled to start in 2021 in majors.
Well this Sucks but he got a World Series ring last year, so that helps and he was a big part of it
To quote duane kuiper when casey blake hit a walk off grand slam against the giants a few years back: “……………… ………….. This is not good folks”
never quote that homer hack
The Giants are consistently voted to have the best (or close to it) broadcast team in all of baseball. You’re the hack.
I HATE the giants and consider them one of the luckiest teams ever. However, after living in the Bay Area for a generation, Kruk and Kuip are by far the best baseball announcers in the game. It hurts me a bit to say this, but it’s true.
Damn. Dustin seems like a great guy and has amazing stuff. And even right now Gonsolin is out with shoulder problems. Come on, modern medicine, it’s 2021, let’s clean some things up.
Get well soon, Dustin. Dodger fans, and baseball fans, everywhere are pulling for you.
What a shame. Every time I’ve caught him on TV he’s looked excellent. Hope this isn’t the beginning of the “what could have been” talk.
If this does lead to TJS, high likelihood he’s back on track in 2023 after a return cup of coffee in late 2022. Very high success rate, especially with hard throwers. Some guy on the Mets who has a couple of Cy Young Awards and is working on another had TJS early in his career.
Mets = TJS.
DeGrom, Thor, Wheeler, Matz…
I don’t know why people always leave out Matt Harvey when they mention that great mets rotation. Remember he had TJ as well and was brilliant upon return. It was thoracic outlet syndrome that messed up his career. Give credit where credit it due please.
I’ve asked this half jokingly before, but is TJS the greatest enabler of TJS? If it didn’t exist, would teams and coaches have pitchers pitch differently?
Nope. Any other questions?
You would be wrong. Pitchers would be trained to pitch to contact and to pitch deeper into games. TJS itself is expensive but it also costs teams 1 1/2 of control and a big chunk of salary.
No. Just a lot more Koufax esque ruined careers
And Bart. That’s laughably wrong. Pitchers went for Ks in the 60s and 70s too. Baseball didn’t know how to “teach” velocity. You really think teams would be happy with all 90 MPH pitchers, they could make everyone throw 95? That’s freaking hilarious. What a take. No. Teams are not going to limit how their pitchers hit because a surgery doesn’t exist. That has never happened and there’s no reason to reasonably think teams would intentionally limit the dominance of their pitcher
Its not about hard the pitchers throw, its about maxing out spin that taxes the elbow. How hard they throw is about genetics, size, arm length and physics. Pitching to contact means enticing the batter to hit the ball earlier in the count. Also, starting pitchers back in the day didnt throw at their max velocity except in key situations. Pitchers are assets. Having them injure their UCL at the shocking rates of today would raise a red flag for anyone aware.
You lecture about pitching to contact and how that is going to save guys
You do realize Dustin May was 1000% pitching to contact his entire MLB career, right? You’re lecturing me that players do X on a thread about a player who doesn’t do what you’re telling me is the root cause of the problem
So. You’re wrong
And no. Velocity is not genetic. This is very well established today. It can be taught. Stop trying to lecture me with Stuff that doesn’t apply here..
Likely yes. I have seen this mentioned before. Not saying you stole the idea at all, just that teams know they can more easily max out their pitchers without ending their careers. This now goes all the way down into high school, where teens are maxing out to get attention from scouts, and a higher percentage are also having Tommy John Surgery.
Rob, if you’re talking to me and teaching velo. Orel Hershisher talks about it quite often on la broadcasts. It’s not my idea. But it’s very well established you can teach increased velocity. Does Bart really think magically all these guys became genetically mutated to throw 7-10MPH faster than the previous gen, in a 20 year period of evolution mystery? Or did the science around the game become more understood and utilized..?
Damn! Now it looks like the Padres and Dodgers may both end up competing for guys like Samardzija, Sanchez and Leake along with every other team this year!
Gonna go with no on that prediction
Just as you can’t drive your car in the red 100% of the time, you can’t throw at 100% effort 100% of the time either. Until that mentality changes, this will continue to be a near daily occurrence.
It’s the mindset organizations instill where you need to make it your goal to strike out everyone you face. That makes every pitch high stress. Pitching to contact makes a lot more sense as long as you have a competent defense behind you.
Hello darkness my old friend…
Tough call. There are a lot more Garret Richards and Chris Sales than Tanaka when it comes to rehabbing this before TJ. Might be best off to have the surgery now and come back for the 2022 playoff run.
TJS was never a consideration for Tanaka. The top three TJS doctors looked at Tanaka’s elbow and all concurred that rest, PRP and rehab was the best solution. He apparently had a very small tear and it was dead center in the ligament with plenty of support around it. A year or so later, when Tanaka had bone chips removed, the surgeon looked at the ligament and there was little evidence the tear was there. That’s a rarity.
Hey no problem. They have Mike Kickham!
No they don’t. 😉
But they do have Tony gonsolin coming back relatively soon and hopefully he can pitch well enough to mitigate them feeling need to acquire someone.
Glad we won’t have to look at the his Bozo the clown look.
The ladies say the same about you, which is why you’re burning up so many socks on a Friday night
“You’re living in the past, man! You’re hung up on some clown from the 60’s, man!”
Tanaka did but I don’t think he was as effective, by going the route he did.
It’s the Giants division to win now!!!
LOL!
1987, first year of the “juiced” baseball and the league’s addiction to the long ball. Add in PED’s and shrinking playing fields the next 2 decades and the predictable pitching solution is greater velocity and movement. Self inflicted wound.
The least they could do is let these pitchers benefit from modern medicine and use steroids during recovery.
Who will be sellers at the deadline? The only sure bets right now are DET and COL. Marquez, Gray, and Freeland would be the only worthwhile SPs from those teams, but will the Rockies be willing to trade within their division? Chances are better now that Bridich is gone.
I’m a diehard Padres fan and have been since 1969. I don’t like anything about LA. Not the Dodgers, Lakers, Rams, Kings or anything else to do with LA. However, this story makes me sad. This kid is a gamer. I hope it all comes together for him.
Yeah, well said. I’m a Giants (~ Padres) fan and I liked how this kid held himself, and he was out to prove he belonged there as starter with Kershaw and Buehler et. al. I’m bummed for him. But he’ll be young when he’s back 100% and ready to roll.
but wait, I gotta ask. You still like the Chargers?
Yet your here on a dodgers post. Irony
@Tatsumaki yet his what is here on a Dodgers post?
Jerry Dipota wants his guys to have already had TJS. He thinks they throw harder about one year after rehab. So he buys them in that rehab year on the cheap…The Ms got it down now…
Jerry is right. A precautionary TJ procedure is wise on so many levels, including putting th player in the best possible position to maximize his workload, career and salary.
Really need to develop a solution to this it’s really hurting the game – I don’t know what it is but what’s been tried hasn’t worked, only thing I can think of is the pitching motion needs to go back to the old over the head motion with high leg kick (Seaver, Ryan, Dave Stewart, etc) that was the standard motion taught growing up in the 80s felt like you used your whole body to throw less stress on the elbow, I don’t know?
@kennethk. You are right. Someone needs to teach pitchers to use their legs and build up proper arm strength BEFORE getting to the majors.
Watch guys like deGrom, Scherzer and Cole. Balance and drive. Get these pitchers out of the weight rooms (except for leg work!) and teach healthy biomechanics. Oh, and get rid of the pitch by pitch speed gun readings. Everybody wants more spin rate, more pitch speed and maximum effort every pitch.
It’ll be interesting to see if Harvey continues to have success.
This sucks. I love watching Dustin pitch. Hope he recovers quickly
It was only a matter of time. This is why if you are trying to develop as an elite pitcher, TJ should be done as a precautionary measure before they come up. They were playing with fire giving him a full starting workload without having the procedure done earlier in his career.
Yea, I’m not sure where you get your facts, but a TJ makes a second TJ more statistically likely.
Care to back this up with evidence? If this is the way, why aren’t the medical professionals suggesting it?
Dodgers pitching depth is certainly being challenged early
c, should a gotten a haircut…
back in the late 90s i played in FL First Coast League, we had about 20-25 guys on the team, most of whom were former MLB pipeline pitchers, like all the other teams …
It is official. David Price is Josh Beckett the 2nd. They aren’t even going to put him in the rotation with May going out with TJ.
Huge blow to this already injury-laden roster if Gonso can’t come back and pitch at a high level after coming off his own injuries.
Sad to see so many teams with players on the injured list. Wonder how MLB will address the fact.
“Wonder how MLB will address the fact.”
Years ago, I would have said “they won’t”, and that they would have written all this off as collateral damage. But the Manfred era has been a very proactive one. I’ve heard talk about moving the mound, possibly.
Hope that May can come back strong; he seems like a bright young star, and that means something coming from a Giants fan 😉
Yet and still, trolls on Dodgers social media pages and even Dodger fans keep chirping about the Dodgers being overrated or that they stink. No, the Dodgers all season have had 10 or more key players on the IL.
How can you be your best if a player(s) every week or so goes on the IL? Pollock was on one (so happy for him seeing as he’s been through soooooo much since 2019 on and off the diamond) with his bat lately, but yet and still he’s been on and off the IL since April. Seager just went on the IL and everyone knows how much the blue needs him.
Could have really used Caleb Ferguson this year in relief. Guess where he’s been for the entire season? Man, oh man.
I guess he should have been on a 75 pitch count limit to ‘protect’ his arm. These guys barely throw 120 innings a year through the minors and STILL get hurt. Maybe it’s time to take off the limits and build them up instead nursing them?
Take a look at Adam Wainwright who barely hits 90 at age 39. He PITCHES circles around these kids and their pitch counts. Anyone think a single one of these 20-somethings will even still be pitching at 35? Horrible mechanics, speed guns, pitch counts, full counts after 0-2 and maximum effort every pitch are destroying pitchers’ arms.
All any coach or scout looks at is velocity. How about solid mechanics and minimum effort with efficiency? Way too many 25 pitch innings and 5 inning starts…
Average 5+ innings per start in the minors and pitch counts really protects these kids, don’t they?
Yeah. It’s the majors that’s the problem. That’s why tons of prep arms are now getting TJS as well?
The real issue is these guys start playing baseball at 6 like everyone else, but by 10 they’re dedicated only to baseball. They’re throwing sliders and other pitches before their body has grown to a point where the ligament can take that type of damage, and doing it year round. That’s your problem
But fixing it is telling people they cannot pursue their dreams how they choose. Not real American there
Probably pitchers throwing as hard as possible 95-100mph doesn’t help either.
Hopefully Carrot Top goes back to comedy
Sad. But you know what I realized the other day is, You never hear of anyone contracting aids anymore. Weird. But, good
Dudeman will come back throwing 104-105 mph.