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Chalk up yet another injury to a frontline starting pitcher this season. This time it’s Los Angeles Dodgers righty Dustin May, who made it through just one inning against the Minnesota Twins before being forced to leave due to injury.
Uh-oh ... #Dodgers RHP Dustin May has left game after one inning. The velocity of his four-seam fastball and sinking fastball was down by about 2 mph from his season averages in first inning. Dylan Covey in game.
— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) May 17, 2023
After May’s fastball velocity was noticeably down in the top of the first, he was seen grabbing his stuff and heading back in to the clubhouse while L.A. was still batting in the bottom half. Per a team announcement, May’s dealing with pain in his throwing elbow, which sure doesn’t sound good:
Dustin May exited today's game with right elbow pain.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 17, 2023
It seems hard to believe that May won’t need at least a few weeks on the IL, which would be a big blow to a Dodgers team that has already dealt with plenty of injury-related upheaval in its rotation this year. May has been dominant so far in 2023, pitching to a 2.68 ERA and leading the NL in hits and home runs per nine innings while forming a fearsome top three with Clayton Kershaw and Julio Urias.
The former top-50 prospect’s stuff has never been in question, but his health certainly has. May boasts a career 3.12 ERA in the Majors, but has also thrown just 190.2 innings over parts of five seasons since making his debut in 2019. He broke out during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, helping lead L.A. to a World Series title, and seemed primed for even bigger things in 2021 ... until a UCL tear forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery, keeping him out for over a year.
May was understandably rusty in his return to action late last season, but with a healthy offseason under his belt, he emerged this spring looking like his old self. We can only hope that he won’t have to go under the knife again, although obviously the Dodgers will need to run some tests before determining a course of action. With Ryan Pepiot and Michael Grove still nursing injuries of their own, L.A. could turn to top prospects Gavin Stone — who made one spot start earlier this season — or Bobby Miller to take May’s place in the rotation.