Dodgers: Dustin May’s rehab video after Tommy John surgery is beyond encouraging

Back in May, the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ season slowly began to come off the rails when Dustin May was lost for the season and forced to undergo Tommy John surgery. He officially had the procedure on May 12.

May’s absence drastically affected the endurance of the starting rotation, which was fully burnt out when the NLCS arrived. We could argue they never really addressed his absence properly, which led to Walker Buehler and Julio Urias blowing by their career-high marks in innings pitched while Max Scherzer experienced a dead arm when he was needed to pitch in a do-or-die game.

David Price? Tony Gonsolin? Danny Duffy??? The Dodgers’ problems could truly be traced back to the trade deadline. Oof.

But how about some positivity? It’s the offseason. The 2022 season is the new focus. And May is already on the mend. In fact, he’s throwing just five and a half months after his surgery!

Dustin May posting an encouraging rehab video is great news for the Dodgers.

That’s not quite the triple-digit fastball with unthinkable movement … but it’s an overhand throw! We’ll take it!

May, who the Dodgers were relying on to have a breakout season at the back end of their rotation, saw his first full true campaign derailed by the injury. He appeared in 14 games (four starts) back in 2019 and just 12 (10 starts) in the shortened 2020 season. Last year was supposed to be his coming out party, but he made just five starts, totaling 23 innings. At least the results were good, though. He had a 2.74 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 35 strikeouts.

While his progress thus far is a welcome sight after how 2021 crashed and burned, remember that it’ll probably be a fully 12 months until we see the right-hander hurling at full capacity from a mound again. That’s just the usual timetable for starting pitchers.

At the very least, we can pencil him in for a half-season’s worth of work in 2022 with the way things are progressing at this juncture. A seamless offseason rehab would be ideal, and it appears to be off to good start for May.

The boost the Dodgers will get when he can return to the rotation will hopefully have the exact opposite effect his absence caused in 2021.

Dodgers: Dustin May posts comeback photo from recovery bed

Los Angeles Dodgers young ace Dustin May's road to recovery begins now, as he posted a post-surgery photo from the hospital bed.