Dustin May undergoes esophageal surgery, won’t pitch again in 2024

Dodgers right-hander Dustin May May underwent surgery earlier this week to repair a tear in his esophagus, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. The procedure will prevent May from returning to the field this season, as Passan writes that May will not be able to participate in any physical activity for the next two months as he recovers.

The esophageal tear was not caused by any baseball-related activity, and Passan notes that “May sought medical attention for throat and stomach pain,” which ultimately led to the surgery. Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times (link X) writes that May felt a “sudden pain” while eating dinner earlier this week.

May had yet to pitch in 2024, as he was still rehabbing from flexor tendon surgery that occurred almost exactly a year prior. Unfortunately, this latest injury came just as May was approaching a minor league rehab assignment, as he had already participated in workouts and other more advanced preparation. While he would still have needed a lengthy minor league rehab stint to properly rebuild his arm, May was expected to be back at some point before the end of the season. A return as a reliever rather than a starter, for example, would have gotten May on the mound a bit earlier, and he could have been a multi-inning relief weapon or opener for Los Angeles during the playoffs — much like his usage during the Dodgers’ championship run in 2020.

The 2024 campaign will now be a complete failure for May, and the unique nature of this esophageal surgery makes his final recovery timeline uncertain. Two months of being off from all physical activity will completely reset May’s progress, so between the specific recovery process related to this surgery and a traditional recovery period, it’s unclear whether May will be ready for Opening Day 2025 or suffer another long setback in his young career.

The former star prospect posted a 3.10 ERA over 191 2/3 major league innings from 2019-23, showing the potential that made him a highly touted prospect during his time in the Los Angeles farm system. May started 10 of 12 regular-season games in 2020 before working primarily as a reliever to help the Dodgers win a ring that year, but Tommy John surgery limited him to 53 regular-season innings in 2021-22. May pitched 48 innings in nine starts in 2023 (with a 2.63 ERA) before surgeries to repair his flexor tendon and a revision Tommy John to treat a Grade 2 lumbar collateral ligament strain.

While it appears May’s career has yet to fully launch, he will turn 27 in September and has just one year of arbitration eligibility remaining before hitting free agency after the 2025 season. It’s too early to view May as a productive, effective pitcher moving forward once he recovers from his latest procedure, though three major surgeries in four years is certainly a worrisome sign for a pitcher who appeared to be a cornerstone of the Dodgers’ rotation this decade.

In the short term, the Dodgers now know they won’t get any help in 2024 from another of the 12 pitchers on their injured list. That incredibly long list includes more than one rotation of potential starting pitchers, including Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton KershawAnd Walker Buehler. All four of these members are expected to return at some point during the second half, with May joining Emmet Sheehan And Tony Gonsolin in the end-of-season injured group.Shohei Ohtani could be considered the 13th “pitcher” out of action, because while Ohtani continues to excel as a designated hitter, the two-way superstar will not pitch this season as he recovers from his own elbow surgery last fall.)

Unsurprisingly, Los Angeles has been heavily linked to the starting pitching market heading into the trade deadline, and it would be surprising if the Dodgers didn’t get at least one extra arm to help shore up this injury-plagued rotation. Losing May might not have much impact on the Dodgers’ leverage in trade talks, as it’s unclear how May would be deployed or how much he would pitch upon his return, but rival teams are forced to try to score a big return to take advantage of Los Angeles’ obvious need for extra pitching.