Dodgers: Dustin May Expected to be a 'Big Part' of LA Rotation Next Season

The Dodgers are in an interesting situation as far as starting pitching. Despite losing Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney and striking out on Justin Verlander and Jacob deGrom, L.A. still has a solid top of the rotation and no less than five candidates to fill the fifth spot.

And that was before the signing of Noah Syndergaard.

One key piece of the likely opening day rotation is Dustin May, who returned from Tommy John surgery late last season and struggled to find the consistency he was looking for. May, who recently got married, will head into spring training looking for a full build-up to try to re-find the dominance he had discovered before his elbow injury.

Dodgers radio broadcaster Tim Neverett was on MLB Network earlier this week where he talked about L.A.'s plans for May.

"With Dustin May, he's full speed ahead. He came back last year and pitched in some games. They limited his innings, obviously. Limited his pitch count. But I think he's gonna be full speed ahead, part of the rotation and a big part of the rotation coming up this spring. He'll have a spot in the rotation; where it is, we'll just wait and see."

Dodgers play-by-play man @TimNeverett discusses how the team will look to build up their roster this offseason following a historic 111 win regular season.#HighHeat | @MadDogUnleashed pic.twitter.com/tiZLO2SV9Y
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 12, 2022

May's stuff is filthy, with a 100-mph two-seam fastball with ridiculous arm-side run and an increasingly effective curveball and cutter. There's a lot more to pitching than just raw stuff, of course, and May had started to figure that out before the 2021 injury put him on the shelf for over a year.

If May can come back at the level he was before the injury, it could be a huge boon for a Dodgers rotation that has a chance to be sneakily outstanding. Coincidentally, Noah Syndergaard is in a similar position being one year further removed from Tommy John surgery. Both May and Syndergaard could form a dynamic backend of the rotation punch for L.A.