Last season, Dodgers pitcher Dustin May returned from Tommy John surgery and made six starts. The first two, both against the Marlins, were outstanding. The next two, both against the Padres, were significantly less outstanding. He capped his season with a good start against the Giants and a bad start against the Diamondbacks, then went back on the injured list with a lower back issue.
May was healthy enough to be on the NLDS roster, but he didn’t pitch in the series. Over the offseason, in addition to getting married, he worked hard to get fully healthy and put himself in position to have a successful 2023 season, as he told SportsNetLA’s Kirsten Watson after his first bullpen session since reporting to spring training at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona.
“Feeling great. Coming off the back injury at the end of the season last year, just glad to be healthy. I was healthy in the playoffs, just didn’t get a chance to throw. Just glad to be healthy coming in to spring. …
“We tweaked a few things with the delivery and the mechanics to kind of get it back to post surgery and I’m feeling really strong going into the start of spring training.”
May went on to say there are no restrictions on his activity this spring. LA manager Dave Roberts and Mark Prior will undoubtedly be mindful of his injury history when figuring out his usage, but they’re not setting specific restrictions at this point.
May had begun to come into his own before his injury early in the 2021 season. He posted a 2.74 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 23 innings before going down with the elbow injury on May 1. He showed flashes of that strikeout stuff in his return last year, but he’ll be looking to dominate more consistently in 2023.
May looked good in his bullpen session and he said he felt great, too. At this point in the spring, that’s all we have to go on, and it’s great news.
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