Dodgers’ Dustin May on Second Major Elbow Injury: ‘It’s Just a Gut-Wrenching Feeling’
Two surgeries 26 months apart is a daunting thought for a young, promising pitcher and that’s exactly what happened to Los Angeles Dodgers starter Dustin May.
May was only 23 innings into his 2021 season when the ulnar collateral ligament in his high right arm gave out. He had surgery on May 12.
“It was definitely not what I wanted to hear when I heard that I needed surgery again. … You can understand the first one. It’s, ‘Okay, I’m going to go get fixed and then I’m going to be fine and I’ll be able to stay healthy and compete.’ Then as soon as I get back basically, the same thing happens again. It’s just a gut-wrenching feeling. It’s like the rug keeps getting pulled out from under my feet. All I want to do is go and compete and I keep being told I can’t.”
Dustin May via O.C. Register
Fifteen months later, towards the end of the season, he was trying to regain his pre-surgery form but something still felt off. He had thrown around 30 big league innings and wasn’t bouncing back like before.
May told Bill Plunkett of the O.C. Register that he never “felt more than probably 75 percent.”
“It hurt every throw. Everybody always says it always hurts (after Tommy John surgery) and then one day it just clicks. I was waiting for that. Mine – instead of getting better, it kept getting worse and getting worse. It kept climbing in the wrong direction and it got to a point where my last game it was affecting my velo(city) so much I was like, ‘Alright, I’d better say something.’ I didn’t even need to say something. They were like, ‘Are you okay because you’re throwing 93?’”
Dustin May via O.C. Register
An MRI revealed damage to the flexor-pronator mass and repairing it meant another 12 months of rehab. While doctors were performing surgery on the flexor, the doctors also put a graft on his repaired UCL.
There’s nothing May can do to change the past, and if rehab continues without any setbacks, then May will begin throwing off the mound in April at the earliest.
He won’t return to the Dodgers until August or September and that’s being optimistic. However, the Dodgers are prepared to use May out of the bullpen if he doesn’t find his starting form.
For May, getting healthy and staying in the rotation is the only thing on his mind.
“If I’m fully healthy I’m good enough to be in any rotation. That’s the biggest thing. I just need to be healthy. Then if it comes to it and I’m not good enough to be in it, then so be it. Hopefully I’m good enough to be in it.”
Dustin May via O.C. Register
Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
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