The Dodgers waved the white flag on Tuesday when it came to rushing Dustin May back from the injured list, transferring him to the 60-day IL. The right-hander suffered what was termed a pronator flexor tendon strain in his right forearm that Dave Roberts initially said could keep him out for at least four weeks.
Now, we know it’ll be much longer than that.
Instead of just a month-long injury, May won’t even pick up a baseball for at least six weeks, and potentially longer. May received a PRP injection in his right forearm/elbow area this week to promote healing in the affected area. In a best-case scenario, the Dodgers will get May back after the All-Star break, but intuition tells me it won’t be before August.
Either way, the Dodgers find themselves in a bit of a dilemma without May. The 25-year-old was the Dodgers’ No. 2 starter in the rotation this year, and was playing like it early in the season.
Fortunately, the Dodgers have tons of starting pitching depth, especially now that RHPs Gavin Stone and Bobby Miller have made their MLB debuts. So, that begs the question:
How Will the Dodgers Replace Dustin May?
When Julio Urias returns to the rotation in a few weeks, the Dodgers will have a decision to make. There won’t be room for both Stone and Miller in the rotation, unless another injury occurs or the Dodgers decide to remove Noah Syndergaard from his starting spot.
If they have to decide between Stone and Miller, they’ll likely go with the one pitching better, and for now, that would be Miller.
The 24-year-old looked sharp in his MLB debut, striking out five Braves across five one-run innings on Tuesday. If he has another solid outing in his next start on Monday against the Nationals, he could be in position to stick around until May returns.
If the Dodgers decide to send him back down to keep working in Triple-A, though, May’s spot could be up for grabs between Stone and Michael Grove.
Grove is currently on a rehab assignment, and should be ready to return sooner rather than later. If they feel like they want to give him another chance in the starting rotation, they could send both Stone and Miller back down to keep working on their game, and give Grove an extended run.
The Dodgers have their fair share of options with the emergence of Miller and Stone. If it were up to me, I would go with whoever’s hot at the time, which right now would appear to be Miller. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he only gets one or two more starts, and Grove takes back over when he’s ready to go.
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