Another injury-spoiled season for the right-hander, who was rehabbing from elbow surgery and suffered an esophageal tear to end his season before it really began.
Perhaps no player better symbolizes the disconnect between expectation and outcome for the Dodgers’ pitching situation over the last couple of years than Dustin May. This club has had two very trying seasons in a row, and it has had to overcome adversity despite what looked like a very promising depth chart at the beginning of each campaign.
The expectation going into the 2024 season was that May would be a factor in the second half, and the need for his services grew exponentially as the year moved along, as one injury came after the other. Ultimately, though, as May was getting ready to return to the mound recovering from a flexor tendon surgery, a new issue rose up to rule him out until 2025.
In a freak injury May suffered a torn esophagus that required surgery in mid-July, which ruled May out for the remainder of 2024.
Assessing the big picture, it is wild to realize that May has been in the big leagues since 2019, never having pitched more than 60 innings a season. His only full season came in the shortened 2020 campaign.
A big leaguer for this long, but without necessarily the number of appearances one would expect, May will actually be pitching in his final season of arbitration control for the Dodgers in 2025. The right-hander is currently set to hit the open market at the end of next year, and at present has only 191⅔ major league innings under his belt.
Roki Sasaki or not, the Dodgers are likely to have a much deeper staff next year, and so that could affect the opportunities for May to fill a starter role. However, as we all know, chances are always popping up during the year, and May’s only obstacle is probably staying healthy.
2024 particulars
Age: 26
Stats: did not pitch
Salary: $2.135 million
Roster status
May has five years, 59 days of major league service time, and will be a free agent after the 2025 season. He and the Dodgers avoided arbitration in November, signing a one-year deal at the same salary he made in 2024.