Dodgers might want to break the mold … again

There are two things that can have devastating results on young pitching prospects:

  1. Bringing them up too soon before they have fully developed both physically and mentally for the rigors of major league play;
  2. Not bringing them up soon enough and literally wasting their bullets in the minor leagues, especially at a time when pitch counts are constantly under the microscope.

On Saturday, June 22, 2019, 21-year-old right-hander Dustin May, the Dodgers third round draft pick in 2016 out of Northwest High School in his hometown of Justin, TX and the Dodgers fourth-ranked overall prospect (ahead of Will Smith and Caleb Ferguson) and who is currently assigned to the Dodgers Double-A affiliate Tulsa Drillers, proved that he needs to be promoted to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers or (brace yourselves) to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Oh sure, it is well understood – or at least the common thought – that skipping a level is considered taboo in this day and age. But consider this: Dodgers left-hander and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, who was drafted out of Highland Park High School in (wait for it…) University Park, TX, made his major league debut on May 25, 2008 as a 20-year-old, without having made even one pitch at the Triple-A level.

Getting back to Dustin May and that June 22, 2019 thing.

On Saturday, in his 15th start of the 2019 season for the Drillers, May went 7.0 innings, allowed no runs and only two hits, while walking none and striking out 14 Amarillo Sod Poodles (Padres) batters. This isn’t just good, this is Walker Buehler good. Buehler, as you undoubtedly know by now, struck out 16 Colorado Rockies batters the night before at Dodger Stadium.

Twenty-one-year-old Dustin May struck out 14 batters in the Drillers 2-1 win over the Amarillo Sod Poodles on Saturday. He made a total of 103 pitches, of which 72 were strikes. (Photo courtesy of Tulsa Drillers)

Here again, it is well understood that jumping from Double-A to the majors is both extremely rare and unquestionably risky, but it has been done before.

…with very good results.

Play Ball!

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3 Responses to “Dodgers might want to break the mold … again”

  1. David J Meyerson says:

    Ron,

    I would agree to OKC, but he has struggled a bit with command. Kershaw was so good in AA that it was easy to see the promotion to the Dodgers. I might be wrong, but the last starters that dominated the minors like CK were the Martinez brothers, and they pitched in AAA. That being said, I am so excited about MAy. His stuff is just nasty and he is a serious competitor.

    Thanks for all you do!!

    David in Tucson

  2. Manuel says:

    Was waiting all season long for May to put up THIS kind of outing. He’s pretty much punched his ticket to OKC with that bonafide statement-maker, whew! Well done, kid. Now you know why you were left out of those trade deals revolving around Machado and most recently Realmuto, lol. Speaking of which, might as well keep Josiah Gray out of trade discussions as well. Him and May are the only pitching prospects I’ve seen down on the farm so far that truly profile as future big-league starters. Gray has quickly become sort of a stopper for the Quakes after he put in another strong showing against pesky Lancaster last night, helping to break his club’s mini losing streak that kicked off their second half.
    😉

  3. OceanEyes says:

    He should get a handful of MLB starts by the end of the year and be ready to rock in 2020. We’re going to need him.

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