Dodgers Team News

Dodgers: Dustin May On the Trevor Bauer Signing Potentially Pushing Him Out of the Rotation

It’s an odd time to be a really good arm in the Dodgers system. Thanks to their incredible depth at all levels, some of the most elite young arms in the game enter the 2021 season without a determined role. 

That would certainly be the case for Dustin May. A former top prospect with his pitch arsenal would be a lock for 29 starting rotations in Major League Baseball. He just happens to play for the Dodgers, the one rotation that he has a chance to not be included in. 



The Dodgers adding in Trevor Bauer via free agency took away one more rotation spot from May. That realistically leaves one more spot for at least 3 guys to be competing for. Despite that, May said in a media call on Monday that he loved the addition of Bauer and hoped that he welcomed the added pressure. 

I’m excited. It’s ways fun adding a Cy Young winner into the rotation. Also, it puts more pressure on me to go out and get a spot that was kind of shortened. There’s a lot of guys to fill up not very many spots so I gotta go out and I gotta fight for it. 

The Dodgers could very well end up using a revolving door of arms to fill that final spot. Using May, Tony Gonsolin, and Julio Urias in and out of the bullpen could take the pressure off of starters to stay fresh for an entire 162-game season. 

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But if the Dodgers do need May back in the bullpen, he says he is fine with it. Whatever it takes to stay up with the big league club and wins games. 

I’m going to be ready for whatever role they put me in, whether it be starting or relieving. I’m excited, it doesn’t matter what role I’m in as long as I’m up and helping the club win ballgames. 

Whatever ends up happening with the final rotation spot, the Dodgers are in an incredible position entering 2021. The fact that they have several arms that they can push back into relief could be the difference-maker down the stretch as the season moves from 60 to 162 games. 

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6 Comments

  1. May has the right attitude and with his velocity and movement he’ll get plenty of opportunities to pitch. Maybe even as a closer?

  2. They really have more than 1 spot in the rotation. They always move pitchers in and out and the “regulars” rarely pitch every 5 days for more than a few weeks. They will use, and need, all of their starters.

  3. Roberts will go with a 6-man rotation. He already said that. Plus, Price was out for a full year, and the teams only played 60 games last year- divided by 5 pitchers. You just can’t go back out and throw 200+ innings coming off a partial season and partial use. That’s where Gonsolin comes in; as a starter/relief guy. Price will need an occasional day off. In fact, the “starting 5”, which Roberts doesn’t hold to, will likely get a series off with Urias, May and Gonsolin pitching that series. Which, of course, is still better than almost any team in MLB…

  4. Need all the pitching you can get as you never know about injuries! Price is suspect after a year off! Also, anyone can be a long reliever. The more the better!

  5. we could have had lemahieu, ozuna, and turner for a little more than the price of bauer and not have a future all star like may in the bull pen.

  6. Any pitching staff inevitably experiences short-term and/or season-ending injuries. Having “too many” pitchers to start the season does not translate into having too many pitchers during most of the season. An injury to, say, Price suddenly changes the dynamics of the staff. Urias was splendid as a multi-inning closer during the 2020 post-season. If he does this throughout 2021, May becomes the 4th or 5th starter. LA could also employ a short starter, which would enable the other starters to pitch later into the game. In short, it’s really nice to have (excellent) options.

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