No, the Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t make a big splash at the deadline — but pitching help is still on the way for the team that owns MLB’s best record. On Friday night, L.A.’s top pitching prospect, Dustin May, will make his major league debut on the mound against the San Diego Padres.
As the 6-foot-6 21-year-old with a blazing fastball and incredible hair gets ready to take the mound, here are five things you need to know about L.A.’s new pitcher.
Watch: Padres-Dodgers at 10:10 ET on ESPN+
He already has one of the best nicknames in baseball: Thanks to his nasty stuff, large frame and flowing locks, May has earned comparisons to Noah Syndergaard. But there’s one major difference: May’s hair is bright red, leading to the incredible nickname of Gingergaard, easily one of the best in MLB before he ever throws a major league pitch. He’ll also have company in the red-hair, red-beard club with the Dodgers in veteran Justin Turner.
The hype is real: May checked in at No. 13 overall on Keith Law’s midseason top 50 prospects update, making him the No. 2 prospect in L.A.’s system behind shortstop Gavin Lux and the No. 4 pitcher on Law’s entire list. After seeing him pitch in this year’s All-Star Futures Game, Law called May “one of the most athletic pitchers in pro ball” with “a lightning-quick arm.”
May is really young: At 21 years, 330 days old (as of Friday), he will be youngest Dodgers starter pitcher to make his MLB debut since Julio Urías (19) in 2016. In fact, May was the youngest pitcher on Oklahoma City’s roster by more than a full year while going 3-0 with 2.30 ERA in five starts at Triple-A this season.
He could have been a Red Raider: May is from Justin, Texas, and committed to play baseball at Texas Tech before signing with the Dodgers for a $1 million bonus when L.A. took him in the third round (No. 101 overall) of the 2016 MLB draft.
This could be an October audition: May probably isn’t going to unseat Hyun-Jin Ryu, Clayton Kershaw or Walker Buehler from the top three spots in the Dodgers’ rotation anytime soon, but there’s a very real chance he makes an impact this postseason coming out of the pen for Los Angeles. If May succeeds this summer for the Dodgers, it could give L.A. fans (and the team’s manager) reason to breathe a little easier in the late innings as the Dodgers aim to end their three-decade title drought.