Dodgers can exhale: CT scan did not find a fracture in Dustin May’s foot

The Dodgers left Arizona on Thursday unsure if Dustin May would pitch again this season. May exited that night’s game after one inning after taking a comebacker off his left foot. Initial X-rays were inconclusive.

Further testing was necessary and revealed that the Dodgers avoided the worst-case scenario. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday that a CT scan did not show a fracture in May’s foot. They’re treating the injury as a “contusion” and May as “day-to-day.” Roberts said the team hasn’t decided if May will be placed on the injured list.

“One part of it is per his tolerance, how he feels,” Roberts said. “But, also, you don’t want to compromise the delivery, which would obviously put the arm at risk in some capacity. So, making sure he feels like he can repeat his delivery and not compensate, that’s the thing. Again, that’s why it’s day-to-day and we just don’t know until each day he’s playing catch. Flat ground will give it a little better idea and potentially see how he is going down the slope.”

It wasn’t the first time the 23-year-old May had to leave a game in Arizona after a comebacker ricocheted off him. The right-hander was struck in the head by a line drive at Chase Field last September. That also happened in the first inning.

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“I just keep going back to that I’m a ball magnet in Arizona on that field,” May said. “It’s weird. I haven’t had a clean inning there. It was weird for sure.”

May said the swelling in the foot significantly subsided by Saturday. He wore an air cast Thursday night but took it off Friday once he knew the foot wasn’t broken. The next step is figuring out when he will throw again. May said he “definitely believes he will make a start before the end of the regular season. He has posted a 2.81 earned-run average across a team-high 41 2/3 innings pitched in a team-high nine starts.

The Dodgers placed Walker Buehler on the injured list Thursday before May’s injury, already leaving them one starter short. As a result, the team will proceed with a bullpen game Sunday against the Houston Astros. Tony Gonsolin, called on to log five innings in relief after May’s departure Thursday, will start Tuesday against the San Diego Padres.

Roberts said the Dodgers would also activate reliever Pedro Báez from the injured list before Saturday’s series opener against Houston. Báez was put on the IL on Aug. 20.