How Dustin May's season-ending surgery impacts Dodgers rotation

Dodgers starting pitcher Dustin May throws.

Staff Writer

July 4, 2023 Updated 9:58 PM PT

The Dodgers already appeared to be in need of starting pitching at the trade deadline.

Now, it might be more of a necessity.

Before a 9-7 loss against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday, the team announced that right-hander Dustin May will undergo season-ending elbow surgery this month, dealing an already banged-up rotation its biggest blow yet exactly four weeks from next month’s deadline.

May’s procedure, which will take place July 18 and be performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, will repair a grade 1 sprain to his flexor tendon, as well as a grade 2 sprain to his ulnar collateral ligament, according to a person with knowledge of the situation unauthorized to speak publicly.

May’s initial recovery timeline is expected to be about 9 1/2 months, the person said. He likely will be out of game action until next June or July.

May suffered his injury during a May 17 start, when he exited early with what the team termed a flexor pronator strain.

The Dodgers’ initial hope was that May would return during the second half, optimistic that a platelet-rich plasma injection he had to treat the injury could prevent surgery.

Almost seven weeks later, however, the 25-year-old had yet to start throwing again — his injury having failed to heal enough to avoid a second major elbow procedure in the last three years.

A third-round draft pick who established himself in the majors thanks to strong performances in 2019 and 2020, May had to undergo Tommy John surgery just five starts into his 2021 campaign.

That injury kept him out until last August, when he made a brief (and inconsistent) return to the Dodgers’ rotation — he had a 4.50 earned-run average in six starts — before missing the final couple of weeks of the season because of a back injury.

This season, May had relished his return to health. In nine starts, he was 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA. Though he wasn’t striking out as many batters, his fastball was averaging 97 mph and his 0.938 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) was best in the Dodgers’ rotation.

Now, a team that already was dealing with a bevy of pitching injuries will have to navigate his latest setback.

Clayton Kershaw is out with shoulder soreness, though he is expected back after the All-Star break.

Julio Urías recently returned from a hamstring strain and hasn’t rediscovered his Cy Young-caliber form of the last two years.

Noah Syndergaard is nearing a potential rehab assignment, though he’ll need to showcase improved stuff after his disastrous start to the season before the club considers bringing him back to the big league roster.

And Walker Buehler’s status remains uncertain as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery.

Amid those absences, the team has leaned on several rookie arms of late, including Bobby Miller, Michael Grove and Emmet Sheehan — the latter of whom suffered his first poor big league start Tuesday by giving up five runs in 32/3 innings against Pittsburgh.

Despite Sheehan’s early exit, the Dodgers (47-38) mounted a rally against the Pirates, taking a 7-6 lead into the ninth after two home runs from James Outman (his first since May 17) and a tiebreaking, eighth-inning blast from rookie Jonny Deluca, the first of his career.

In the top of the ninth, however, closer Evan Phillips faltered against the Pirates (40-45), giving up three runs while pitching for a third consecutive day for the first time in his career.

It was another example of the consequences that come with the Dodgers’ unsettled rotation, which entered Tuesday ranked 17th in the majors in ERA and 23rd in innings.

“It’s certainly not ideal or sustainable,” manager Dave Roberts said of the Dodgers’ starting pitching woes. “I do feel that the guys that we have now, we’ve done a really nice job of taking care of them. They’re not taxed. But that doesn’t change the point that the starters still have to give us more length.”

Internally, the team has few obvious options — with unproven prospects such as Gavin Stone (who pitched two innings of relief Tuesday), Ryan Pepiot (still recovering from an oblique strain) and Landon Knack (only recently promoted to triple A) rounding out its depth chart.

It’s similar to the position the Dodgers were in last year, when they largely stood pat at the deadline in hopes of having injured pitchers return to provide reinforcements.

That plan backfired in the playoffs, when the Dodgers wound up being a starter short in their National League Division Series elimination by the San Diego Padres.

This year the team might need to make an addition to the rotation just to ensure it returns to the postseason.

That much was becoming evident even before Tuesday. May’s surgery underlines it even more.