The Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff has absorbed a rash of injuries this season and now could be roughly three weeks away from adding Dustin May to the starting rotation.
May started a rehab assignment last week with the Arizona Complex League Dodgers and struck out three over two perfect innings. Now the right-hander is joining Triple-A Oklahoma City to continue his rehab assignment.
May is expected to complete three innings for OKC on Friday. His progression would be four innings in a third rehab start, then an outing of five frames. The Dodgers anticipate a return from Tommy John surgery around the middle of August.
“When you guys see him, he’s a lot more physical than the last time you guys put eyes on him if you haven’t seen him recently,” manager Dave Roberts said. “A lot more physical.
“Everything that I hear has been good and when I have seen him in Arizona when he’s gone out there and thrown ‘pens, the body looks great, the stroke, the delivery, the command has been fantastic. He’s really commanding the baseball as good as I’ve seen him.”
Should May continue his rehab assignment without any setbacks, his return would give Dodgers some insurance while they continue to wait for Walker Buehler.
“We’ve leaned on him a lot in the past, so to have a guy that hasn’t pitched a Major League inning yet this year, have a fresh arm and talented arm, is going to be a big boost for all of us,” Roberts said.
May went 1-1 with a 2.74 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 0.96 WHIP, and 35 strikeouts against six walks in 23 innings pitched over five starts last season.
Heaney ahead of May
Also on the Dodgers pitching front, Andrew Heaney started for the ACL team in what marked his second outing of a rehab assignment.
Heaney struggled last weekend with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, throwing 48 pitches and allowing four runs on six hits, including two homers, prior to being removed after just 2.2 innings.
Heaney bounced back in Arizona, collecting eight strikeouts over five innings. He did allow two more home runs along with three singles in the outing.
Roberts said the left-hander would next start for the Dodgers if he doesn’t experience any trouble in the ensuing days.
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