Four things to know about new Red Sox pitcher Dustin May

Boston Globe

6 days ago

Here are four things to know about Boston's new pitcher:
May has struggled this season with the Dodgers
The good news? May is in the midst of the healthiest season of his career, logging 19 games so far in 2025 and surpassing 100 innings for the first time in the big leagues. Prior to this year, the most innings he logged in a single season was 56.0 in 2020.
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
The bad news? May's healthiest season with the Dodgers has also been his worst so far.
Advertisement
May, who will turn 28 in September, is 6-7 with a 4.85 ERA over 19 games (18 starts). He has struck out 97 batters while also walking 43 in 104 innings.
His final start in a Dodgers uniform was against the Red Sox at Fenway Park on July 27 in which he allowed four runs over five innings in
BOS - Alex Bregman 2-run HR (13)
📏 Distance: 400 ft
💨 EV: 99.6 mph
📐 LA: 30°
⚾️ 84.8 mph sweeper (LAD - RHP Dustin May)
🏟️ Would be out in 30/30 MLB parks
LAD (3) @ BOS (4)
🔻 5th
— MLB Home Runs🚀 (@MLBHRs_)
A starter for most of his career with the Dodgers, May
Advertisement
Of the 82 pitchers with a minimum of 100 innings, May's 4.85 ERA ranks 73rd — while his walk rate of 9.5 percent ranks 72nd.
A pending free agent, May is expected to slot in near the back end of the starting rotation behind Garrett Crochet, Lucas Giolito, and Brayan Bello.
May was once one of the top young starters in baseball
Prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2023, May sported a career ERA of 3.10 — even earning the Opening Day start during the 2020 season with Clayton Kershaw sidelined due to injury.
An imposing figure at 6-foot-6, May may not boast elite swing-and-miss stuff after several procedures, but his sinker and sweeper can induce ground balls and limit the damage doled out at the plate.
Although his workload with the Dodgers wasn't exactly taxing due to injuries, May sported a sub-3.00 ERA in three of those six years in Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, all three of those campaigns were before May's latest string of injury woes.
He's dealt with multiple injuries on the mound
May is no stranger to the injury bug, with his promising career in Los Angeles dealt several blows to a variety of elbow ailments and other freak accidents.
May has already undergone two Tommy John surgeries, first going under the knife for the major procedure in 2021 after logging just five starts with Los Angeles that year (2.74 ERA).
He returned in August 2022, pitching six games and finishing 2–3 with a 4.50 ERA before back tightness ended his season the following month.
May looked as though he regained his form in 2023, going 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA over nine starts. But, more elbow pain prompted another Tommy John revision surgery in July 2023.
Advertisement
'It felt amazing just to be back,' May told MLB.com during spring training
'It was really, really heavy. I'm alive. I'm glad I'm here. Just a huge excitement, like a breath of fresh air. Like a new beginning, kind of.'
A salad forced May into emergency surgery
May's hopes of returning in 2024 were dashed last summer when he suffered a torn esophagus while rehabbing back from his latest Tommy John procedure.
May told
'As soon as the water hit the salad in my throat, just full body-on-fire,'
May said that he was later rushed into surgery in Phoenix that night around midnight, with the procedure to repair the tear in his esophagus completed around 7 a.m. He had to spend 11 days in the hospital while recovering from the ordeal.
'[The salad] just got lodged in my throat a certain way. Instead of going down, it went out,' May said. 'I would have been six feet under that night.'
Advertisement
Conor Ryan can be reached at