Dustin May, the fireballing young starting pitcher for the Dodgers who has spent the last 15 months on the injured list after a torn UCL required Tommy John surgery, returns to the active roster today to start against the Marlins at Dodger Stadium. The 24-year-old May, who was one of the brightest young pitching stars in baseball before the injury, is hoping to make a difference for the Dodgers in September and into the postseason.
May’s teammate and fellow starter Tony Gonsolin was on MLB Network Radio’s “Power Alley” on SiriusXM on Thursday, and he was asked what kind of impact he expects May to have on the team and the starting rotation in his return.
“I think he’s just another really, really quality arm that we have that’s coming back. He’s been looking good in his rehab stuff, he looks healthy, he looks good right now just playing catch and his body overall. I’m excited to go see him throw on Saturday and just dominate.”
May and Gonsolin debuted just five weeks apart in 2019, so they’re quite familiar with each other. Both were able to be effective without necessarily being efficient early in their careers, and Gonsolin has made major strides this year in both the effectiveness and the efficiency.
For May, the big question early was whether his strikeout rate would ever match his raw stuff; despite having an electric fastball and solid offspeed pitches, May struck out just 20.8 percent of hitters over his first two seasons. He appeared to have turned that corner in early 2021, though, with a 37.6 percent strikeout rate in 23 innings before the injury ended his season. Whether May can pick up where he left off in that department will be a key storyline for him over the next five weeks.
Gonsolin, for one, expects May to be dominant. With May’s tall, lanky frame continuing to fill out and the word that he’s adding a changeup to his repertoire, that seems like a fair expectation.
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