The Los Angeles Dodgers were without the pitching prowess of Dustin May from the beginning of the 2023 campaign until earlier this month.

May has not just returned from a major elbow surgery, but a freak injury that turned life-threatening in a moment’s notice. The 27-year-old from Texas hasn’t just elevated his performance on the mound despite all that he’s gone through, but he expects that he’s only getting better.

“I think it’s just early in the year, getting into the swing of things,” May said. “I mean, I’m still only nine months out of my esophagus surgery. I’m still getting strength back. Just being able to put the jersey back on is an accomplishment in itself. Once more strength comes back and I get more back to normal, I think it’s going to tick back up.”

May was first shut down in May of 2023 to have a second career elbow surgery, a Tommy John revision to repair the flexor tendon. As he was completing a rehab program and was about a month away from rejoining the roster, a rogue piece of salad changed his life.

The pitcher ruptured his esophagus and required what he described as “essentially a full abdominal surgery.” This obviously held him out for even more time, but his return to MLB has been special thus far.

May is sporting a 1.06 ERA across his three starts with 14 strikeouts to just six walks. The pitcher may have been away from the game for a while before 2025, but it was never a question in his mind that he wouldn’t bring the same stuff whenever he returned.

“I didn’t think that it wouldn’t come back,” May said. “I didn’t know that it was going to be as effective as it’s been because I hadn’t pitched in so long. So the thought process behind it all – was it going to play as well as it did before? But my stuff is pretty much the same, just a tick down – which is still pretty good.”

May is confident that he is not just going to get his velocity a few ticks up, but exceed his current dominance. Dodgers fans will hope that he can stay on the mound and continue his healthy and effective ways.