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Dustin May

Dodgers Place Dustin May On 10-Day IL, Select Mike Kickham

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TODAY: May’s placement is official, with the “right arm injury” designation.  Left-hander Mike Kickham’s contract was selected from the alternate training site in a corresponding move.  To create a 40-man roster spot for Kickham, the Dodgers moved right-hander Corey Knebel to the 60-day IL.

Kickham signed a minor league deal with L.A. in January, after a 2020 season that saw him toss 14 innings for the Red Sox.  It was Kickham’s first MLB action since pitching with the Giants in 2014, as he had toiled away in the minors looking for another opportunity.

MAY 1, 11:28PM: The Dodgers will place May on the 10-day injured list on Sunday, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett).  In terms of a longer-term prognosis, Roberts said “we remain hopeful but we won’t know until we get an MRI,” adding that May will get that MRI when the Dodgers arrive in Chicago on Monday for the beginning of a series with the Cubs.  According to the manager, May felt “a shooting sensation” in his arm.

8:34PM: The Dodgers released a very general first report on May, saying that he only left the game with a “right arm injury.”

7:05PM: Dodgers right-hander Dustin May made an early exit from his start against the Brewers tonight due to an apparent injury.  After throwing a pitch to Billy McKinney with two out in the bottom of the second inning, May visibly winced in discomfort, and left the game after a visit from the team trainer.

More will be known when the Dodgers release an update on May’s condition, but obviously any sort of an injury that requires an injured-list placement isn’t good news for either May or the Dodgers rotation as a whole.  Though Los Angeles still has one of the league’s best rotations, the club has been hit hard by pitching injuries, with seven hurlers currently on the IL.  That list of names includes David Price and Tony Gonsolin, who were competing with May for a rotation spot during Spring Training.

May won that battle and has been impressive in the early going, posting a 2.53 ERA, 57.4% grounder rate, and one of the league’s best strikeout rates (37.2%) over 21 1/3 innings heading into tonight’s start against Milwaukee.  A heralded pitching prospect on his way up the Dodgers’ minor league ladder, May posted a 2.98 ERA over 90 2/3 innings in 2019-20, and finished fifth in NL Rookie Of The Year voting in 2020.  As usual with their pitchers, the Dodgers have been pretty flexible with May’s usage, deploying him mostly as a starter in 2020 but moving him to the bullpen and giving him opener-style “starts” during the team’s postseason run.

NL West Notes: Diamondbacks, Widener, Closer, Ahmed, Dodgers, McKinstry

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Taylor Widener will open the season as a member of the Diamondbacks rotation, per MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert (via Twitter). Widener beat out Taylor Clarke to take Zac Gallen’s spot in the rotation. Widener has been a highly-regarded prospect, first in the Yankees’ system and then with the Diamondbacks. He made 12 appearances out of the Dbacks’ pen in 2020 with a 4.50 ERA/6.49 FIP across 20 innings. Clarke, meanwhile, will head to the bullpen. Elsewhere in the desert…

  • The Diamondbacks are going with a closer-by-committee approach to start the season, per Zach Buchanan of the Athletic (via Twitter). Joakim Soria has been the presumptive closer given his past experience in the role compared to the other options on the roster. Soria’s 223 career saves easily set the pace. Tyler Clippard is second with 68 career saves, and Stefan Crichton comes in third with just five career saves. Nevertheless, Crichton is one of the guys manager Torey Lovullo may turn to late in game. The Diamondbacks might simply want to push some of their less proven bullpen arms to see what exactly they have in someone like Crichton or Kevin Ginkel.
  • Nick Ahmed’s been experiencing knee pain, an issue that he has dealt with in the past. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection as treatment and plans to be ready for opening day, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter). Arizona doesn’t have a perfect solution to replace Ahmed, were he to miss time. Josh Rojas would likely slide to short with Asdrubal Cabrera seeing more regular time at the keystone. For now, however, they’ll assume good health and move ahead with Ahmed. While he’s not among the elite at his position, Ahmed has put together a quality three-year stretch, pairing gold glove defense with an acceptable 89 wRC+.
  • Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed that none of the non-roster invitees are still in the running to make their opening day roster, per Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). Presumably, that means Zach McKinstry has made the roster as a utility option off the bench. There is still one roster decision pending for the champs, however, as Roberts says they are not yet decided about their fifth starter. David Price, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin are all still under consideration for the role. Price was scratched from his recent start because of illness. He plans to pitch today in a simulated game. (Twitter links). Gonsolin struggled through 3 2/3 innings against the Angels on Sunday night.

Pitcher Notes: Dodgers, Gray, E-Rod, Yankees, Fiers

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The Dodgers are still deciding among fifth starter options, manager Dave Roberts informed Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times and other reporters Friday. Southpaw David Price is competing against righties Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, who impressed as rookies during the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series-winning campaign. As a five-time All-Star and a former AL Cy Young winner, Price certainly carries the best track record of the three – not to mention the highest salary – but he didn’t pitch at all last season after opting out over COVID-19 concerns. Any of those three would join Trevor Bauer, Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw and Julio Urías in what will be a loaded season-opening starting five.

The latest on a few more pitchers around the game:

  • Reds righty Sonny Gray, who has been dealing with a back problem for a couple of weeks, came out of a sim game unscathed Friday, per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. After throwing two innings and 30 pitches, Gray said, “I felt good. It was definitely a step in the right direction.” Gray will start the season on the injured list, but he doesn’t expect to miss much time. That’s uplifting news for a Reds starting staff that lost the aforementioned Bauer during the offseason.
  • Eduardo Rodríguez was recently set back by a dead arm but seemed to make some progress this morning. The Red Sox left-hander came out of a bullpen session feeling good about his chances of soon returning to game action, although a season-opening injured list stint remains a possibility (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com and Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe). Manager Alex Cora says the club will evaluate how Rodríguez feels tomorrow before making any decisions about his recovery timeline.
  • The Yankees have optioned right-hander Deivi García to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, according to a team announcement. The move suggests Domingo Germán will enter the season as the No. 5 in the Yankees’ rotation behind Gerrit Cole, Corey Kluber, Jameson Taillon and Jordan Montgomery, though odds are that García will make his share of starts this season. The 21-year-old, a former top 100 prospect, made his debut last season with a 4.98 ERA/4.21 SIERA with a 22.6 percent strikeout rate against a stingy 4.1 percent walk rate in 34 1/3 innings.
  • Athletics righty Mike Fiers will begin the season on the injured list, manager Bob Melvin announced to Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle and other reporters. Fiers has been dealing with left hip inflammation since midway through the month and hasn’t faced live hitters during his recovery. His injury could open the door for any of Daulton Jefferies, Cole Irvin or A.J. Puk to at least temporarily join the A’s rotation. Fiers tied for the A’s lead in starts (11) and finished second in innings (59) last season, but he struggled to a 4.58 ERA/5.41 SIERA and managed a personal-worst 14.4 percent K rate.

Dustin May To Start NLCS Game 7

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The Dodgers are starting right-hander Dustin May against the Braves in tonight’s NLCS Game 7, per various reporters (including Ken Gurnick of MLB.com). The hard-throwing sinkerballer started Game 5 of the series on Friday and went two innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts.

May threw 55 pitches just two days ago, so he surely won’t be expected to work deep into tonight’s game. Game 2 starter Tony Gonsolin seems likely to offer bulk innings in relief. Of course, it’s a winner-take-all contest, so manager Dave Roberts will have a quick hook on all of his pitchers tonight.

The 23-year-old May recorded a 2.57 ERA/4.62 FIP in 56 regular season innings. He’s allowed only one earned run in 6.2 innings across four appearances this postseason.

Dustin May To Start Game 3 Of NLDS

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Dodgers right-hander Dustin May will start Game 3 of their NLDS against the Padres on Thursday, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports. May will go up against San Diego lefty Adrian Morejon.

The outing will give May a chance to put a dagger in the division-rival Padres, who dropped the first two games of the teams’ matchup and are now facing elimination. The rookie May, who threw two scoreless innings against the Padres in Game 1, enjoyed an impressive regular season in 2020.

May, 23, wound up with 56 innings (12 appearances, 10 starts) of 2.57 ERA/4.62 FIP pitching with 7.07 K/9, 2.57 BB/9 and a 54.7 percent groundball rate in his first full big league year. Only Clayton Kershaw amassed more frames for the club, while Walker Buehler, Tony Gonsolin and Julio Urias are also among the Dodgers’ best starter-capable pitchers. The depth they have in their rotation is among the many reasons the Dodgers finished with the majors’ best regular-season record (43-17) and can be considered the favorites to win this year’s World Series.

Quick Hits: Dodgers, May, A’s, Piscotty, Nationals, Doolittle, Rainey

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Dustin May left his start on Thursday after just one inning, but the Dodgers received good news today. There’s no fracture in May’s foot, as was feared, but a contusion still garners a day-to-day status and an eventual IL stint is not out of the question, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (via Twitter). There may be some smoke and mirrors behind May’s 2.81 ERA, as a 4.51 FIP suggests the underlying work hasn’t been as strong as the ERA. At a surface level, May’s strikeouts have been down to 6.0 K/9 while a 2.2 BB/9 mark represents a slight year-over-year increase. Let’s get another couple injury updates from around the game…

  • The Oakland A’s face a reality without star third baseman Matt Chapman in the lineup for the rest of the season. The good news for Oakland is they’ve built a 7-game lead over the Astros for the division, and with less than a third of the season remaining, they have 99.6% likelihood of winning the West, per Fangraph’s playoff odds. They’ll get a little more help with Stephen Piscotty expected to return to the lineup today, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The 29-year-old outfielder carries a .264/.308/.438 line through 131 plate appearances, 4% better than average so far this season with the stick. Piscotty was given the last two days off, but he will be in the lineup for the second game of today’s doubleheader.
  • Sean Doolittle hasn’t been his dominant self the last year or so, though he’s largely remained a productive arm for the Nats. Luckily for Washington, Doolittle’s up-and-down spells were on the upswing during last year’s playoffs, where he and Daniel Hudson did most of the heavy lifting for the bullpen. He’s on a downswing now, however, stuck with a 5.87 ERA while he hopes to recover from an oblique strain. Doolittle is likely done for the year, though if the Nats can rehash some 2019 magic and erase their five game deficit to make the playoffs, it’s possible Doolittle could return to participate, per Byron Kerr of MASNsports.com (via Twitter).
  • Tanner Rainey has largely stepped into the high-leverage role vacated by Doolittle, but he’ll be taking a couple of days off due to forearm soreness, tweets Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. An MRI came back negative, so the Nats will give Rainey a couple days off and hope his discomfort dissipates.

Dodgers Place Clayton Kershaw On Injured List, Recall Dustin May

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The Dodgers announced that they’ve placed scheduled Opening Day starter Clayton Kershaw on the injured list and recalled right-hander Dustin May from their alternate training site. The team has termed Kershaw’s injury as “back stiffness” and will surely provide more details in the near future. Kershaw had been slated to take the hill against the Giants just under four hours from now. May will take the ball in place of Kershaw tonight.

Kershaw incurred his current injury in the weight room earlier this week, manager Dave Roberts tells reporters, adding that right now he’s unsure as to when the left-hander will be able to return (Twitter links via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com). May was made aware of the possibility of this switch last night, per the manager.

With Kershaw suddenly and unexpectedly shelved, the Dodgers’ rotation will now consist of May, Walker Buehler, Ross Stripling, Julio Urias and Alex Wood. It’s still a talented group with plenty of intriguing option in reserve — Tony Gonsolin, Mitchell White and Josiah Gray among them — but it’s clearly a thinner group than anticipated just a few weeks ago when both Kershaw and David Price were still in the picture. That said, the ability to cultivate this type of depth is one of the reasons that the Dodgers have been so successful under the current front office regime.

In turning the ball over to the 22-year-old May, Los Angeles will entrust the season’s first start to one of MLB’s premier pitching prospects. The 6’6″ May made his big league debut in 2019, pitching to a 3.63 ERA with a 32-to-5 K/BB ratio in 34 2/3 frames before adding 3 1/3 innings of one-run ball in the NLDS. A third-round pick back in 2016, May notched a combined 3.38 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A in 2019, including a 2.30 ERA in 27 1/3 frames in a supercharged Triple-A offensive environment.

May is widely regarded to be one of the game’s 25 best overall prospects, so it’s not as though the Dodgers are simply crossing their fingers and hoping that a minor league call-up can hold his own while filling in for an injured star. May is expected to be a key part both of the team’s future and its success in 2020, although he’ll obviously be asked to contribute sooner than the organization had initially anticipated.

Dodgers Select Terrance Gore, Option Dustin May

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The Dodgers have made a few final roster decisions in advance of their opening contest, as reflected on their transactions page (h/t Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times, on Twitter). Speedy outfielder Terrance Gore has been selected to the 40-man roster, while young righty Dustin May was optioned to the team’s alternative training site.

It’s easy to see the merits of carrying a speed demon like Gore with expanded rosters early in the season. The 29-year-old has never hit much at any level, but he’s among the fastest players in recent MLB memory. Gore’s pinch-running prowess was on full display with the 2014-15 Royals World Series clubs, and he’ll give the Dodgers some additional range in the outfield should they wish to use him in that capacity as well. Gore seems like the type of player who may eventually be set to alternate camp when the roster is trimmed to 28 and eventually 26 players, but he’ll give the club a unique weapon off the bench early in the year.

As for May, he’ll head to alternate camp to continue getting some work in while the Dodgers rely on a more experienced starting staff that features Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Alex Wood, Ross Stripling and Julio Urias. There are some obvious potential service time benefits to sending May down to begin the year, but given that he already accrued more than a third of a season of service last year, that might not be the sole motivation. He’d need to spend several weeks in the minors to fall shy of a full year and extend the club’s control over him.

May, 22, is considered one of the game’s premier prospects and turned in a 3.63 ERA with a 32-to-5 K/BB ratio in 34 2/3 frames as a rookie in 2019. He maintains that rookie status into 2020.

Dodgers Option Tony Gonsolin To Alternate Training Site

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The Los Angeles Dodgers have optioned swingman Tony Gonsolin to their alternate training site, tweets Jorge Castillo of the LA Times.

It was clear as early as last week that Gonsolin was unlikely to make the Dodgers’ rotation. There was still a chance Gonsolin would break camp in the bullpen, but it appears the Dodgers have decided to keep him in camp. Presumably, this means they’ll continue to stretch him out for the possibility of joining the rotation at some point during the season. Ross Stripling figures to have the best shot at joining Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Julio Urias, and Walker Buehler in the rotation, though Dustin May could still be in the mix for either the rotation or the pen.

Though Gonsolin pitched well in the majors last season (2.93 ERA/3.86 FIP across 40 innings), he benefited from a below-average BABIP (.209). In 13 Triple-A starts before getting the call-up, Gonsolin put together a blasé 4.35 ERA/4.38 FIP. He’ll remain a depth option for the Dodgers.

In the meantime, the Dodgers have more than enough arms in the bullpen. Presuming Kenley Jansen gets up to speed in time to make the Opening Day roster, he’ll join Joe Kelly, Blake Treinen, Pedro Baez, Caleb Ferguson, Scott Alexander, Brusdar Graterol, Dylan Floro, and lefty specialist Adam Kolarek as pen options for the Dodgers.

Dodgers Mull Rotation Options

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Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has yet to name David Price’s replacement in the rotation, but Tony Gonsolin isn’t likely to claim the spot, writes J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. Gonsolin certainly put together enough of an effort in 2019 (2.93 ERA/3.86 FIP across 11 appearances, six starts), but according to Roberts, the issue is that Gonsolin is behind his competitors in terms of building up the strength a starter needs to accumulate heavy usage.

In a vacuum, Ross Stripling would figure to be the top candidate to join Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Julio Urias, and Walker Buehler in the rotation. Despite being temporarily traded to the Angels, Stripling’s been largely productive as a swingman and occasional starter for the Dodgers. While contributing between 74 and 122 innings over the last four seasons, Stripling has never had an ERA or FIP higher than 3.96, coming in his rookie season. In this environment, however, roles will have as much to do with readiness as past performance. Dustin May could certainly earn some consideration for the rotation, as could Dennis Santana. Edwin Uceta could also get a look. May, 22, has the highest upside of the group.

In other news from camp, the Dodgers added six players to their 60-man player pool, writes Hoornstra (via Twitter). Michael Busch, Anthony Garcia, Landon Knack, Bobby Miller, Ryan Pepiot, Edubray Ramos and Carson Taylor all join the pool as non-roster invitees.

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