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We expected the worst, and it was confirmed on Monday. According to the Dodgers, pitcher Dustin May will undergo right elbow UCL reconstruction surgery on Tuesday, May 11 in Los Angeles. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache.
Unfortunately, by getting Tommy John surgery this means that May will miss the rest of the 2021 campaign, and a solid portion of the 2022 season as well.
“He said he felt a shooting sensation through his arm on one of those curveballs in the beginning of the at-bat,” Roberts said following May’s outing. “We’ll know more with the MRI, but certainly the health of the player, short-term, long term is our biggest concern.”
May was really starting to turn a corner and looked as if he was developing into one of the top young starters in the game. In five starts he had a 2.74 ERA along with a career-high 13.7 SO/9 rate, nearly doubling his number from last season.
Roberts spoke with reporters on Monday and gave an update on May and how he’s currently feeling.
“[He’s] emotionally down,” Roberts said. “When you hear the ultimate decision, it’s very disappointing. He’s handling it like a pro and find out what the next step is after surgery and attack it that way.”
When asked if there were any warning signs with his arm, Roberts said they didn’t detect any. He said that May was throwing the ball great on Saturday and all of his side work had been really good recently. He just said that these things happens in baseball.
“You never want to lose anyone for a season,” Roberts said. “Certainly a player like Dustin who was taking the ball every fifth day and logging valuable innings. I feel for him and our ball club. It’s a big blow. We have a lot of talented players and find a way to fill that void.
“When you’re developing and now you get the year cut short, that impacts development. What he’s done is he’s matured more as a ballplayer. His work in between starts has been more focused and consistent. To not be able to build on that is very unfortunate.”