Dodgers: Dustin May’s Injury Further Clouds His Potential Postseason Role

The anticipated return of Dustin May hasn’t been as spectacular as many had hoped despite showing signs of what he is truly capable of. In just his first start back from Tommy John surgery, he amassed nine strikeouts in five innings of play and allowed zero earned runs in five innings against the Marlins.

Since then, he has gotten 20 more strikeouts but has allowed 15 earned runs in five starts and 25.0 innings pitched. The talent is there for May, but he still needs to get rid of some rust for any significant role come postseason.

Of course, all of this was before he hit the injured list with a lower back strain on Saturday. Now he’ll be unable to impress upon his manager his level of readiness for a potential October role on the pitching staff.

Earlier this week, Dave Roberts spoke about May’s inconsistency and, by all accounts, is still on the fence on whether Dustin will be a starter in the playoffs or end up in the bullpen.

“Is it cemented? I’d probably stop short of that. But that’s most plausible.”

Certainly, this poorly timed back injury doesn’t help the case for May to start. But it feels like the health status of the pitching staff will be the key factor for LA. Moreover, the status of fellow injured right-hander Tony Gonsolin.

It isn’t time to raise the alarms for Dodgers fans just yet. Julio Urias will be ready to go for game one. And Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Anderson will be ready to go in games 2 and 3.

May still has time to prove he’s worthy of being a key starter moving forward, but the Dodgers can still remain patient and figure things out as they continue to rest their starters going forward.

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