The Los Angeles Dodgers plan to tackle the start of the 2025 season with a five-man rotation. A sixth position will be added for Shohei Ohtani when he is ready to make his Dodgers debut on the mound.
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Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, and Tyler Glasnow will be staple starters for the Dodgers. This leaves just one spot in the rotation for another pitcher to claim during spring training.
Right-handed pitchers Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May are in the mix for the fifth spot. The pitcher who isn’t selected for the rotation could pitch out of the Dodgers’ eight-man bullpen; however, manager Dave Roberts did say May could start the season on the injured list in order to build up in the minors.
May told reporters after Thursday’s start that he would prefer to be a starting pitcher for the Dodgers in 2025.
“I’d prefer to start,” May said. “But I just need to log innings. I mean, I haven’t been able to pitch in basically four years so I just need to go out and pitch.”
Both May and Gonsolin are returning from injuries that sidelined them for the entire 2024 season. Gonsolin underwent Tommy John surgery in August 2023, but May’s injury battle has lasted much longer.
May has dealt with injuries for much of the past four seasons. It began with a torn UCL in May 2021, which limited him to 11 starts between the 2021 and 2023 seasons.
The 2020 World Series champion had flexor tendon surgery that kept him off the mound for most of the 2023 season. May expected to be healthy for 2024, but he sustained an esophagus tear that required him to undergo a second operation.
The 27-year-old is finally healthy and believes he can earn the final spot in the Dodgers’ rotation.
“When my stuff is in the (strike) zone, it’s just as good as anybody’s in the league. So I feel I have a good chance to get guys out,” May said. “But if it’s in the bullpen, it’s in the bullpen.”
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So far, May has made three starts in spring training, logging a 5.40 ERA and six strikeouts across five innings. If he doesn’t win the job, he could wind up in the bullpen, or begin the year on a minor league rehab assignment to log more innings before making his 2025 debut.
Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images
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