One bite of salad derailed Dustin May’s return to Dodgers. He’s thankful to be back
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PHOENIX — Last year was supposed to go differently for Dodgers pitcher Dustin May.
Out since the middle of 2023 following a flexor tendon and Tommy John revision surgery, the hard-throwing right-hander was on track to return to action before the end of the season.
By early July he was just a week away from a minor-league rehab stint, and a mere month or so from potentially rejoining the roster.
Even more encouraging was that as May neared the end of his recovery from his second major surgery (May had Tommy John in 2021), he finally was feeling like his old self, hopeful of returning to the shorthanded starting rotation and playing a key late-season role in the Dodgers’ push for a World Series title.
Follow along for the latest news as the Dodgers open spring training at Camelback Ranch in Phoenix following their World Series-winning campaign.
“I was pretty close,” May said.
Then, over the course of one frightening evening, everything changed.
On the night of July 10, while he still was rehabbing at the Dodgers’ Camelback Ranch facility in Arizona, May went to dinner and ordered a salad. After one bite, he felt lettuce stuck in his throat. Trying to wash it down, he took a quick swig of water.
Moments later he could tell something was wrong.
In what May described as a “complete freak accident,” he unknowingly suffered a serious tear in his esophagus — one that required emergency surgery that night, dashed any hopes of him returning before the end of the season and left him with a new perspective on not only baseball but also the fragility of life.
“It was definitely a life-altering event,” May said Friday, recounting the ordeal for the first time publicly. “It was definitely very serious. It’s not a very common surgery. It was definitely an emergency.”
So much so, he added, “I probably wouldn’t have made it through the night if I didn’t have it.”
For 15 minutes, May said, he felt a “mega-painful” sensation in his throat and stomach; he later learned the lettuce lodged in his throat led to a highly uncommon food impaction that perforated his esophagus tube. When the pain wore off, however, May returned home from dinner thinking he would be OK.
“I’m not a big panicker,” he said. “It kind of chilled out. So I was like, ‘I’m fine. I don’t need to do anything.’”
His wife, Millie, wasn’t so sure.
“No,” May recalled her saying. “We’re going to the ER to get it checked out.”
When May arrived, doctors performed a CT scan using contrast fluid that revealed the severity of his tear. Immediately they ushered him into surgery. In a matter of hours, he went from being on the verge of a long-awaited comeback to facing the most unexpected of setbacks.
Last year was a year of transformation for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who rallied from a midseason injury to become the Dodgers’ most reliable postseason starter.
“It was extremely frustrating,” May said. “You can’t plan for it. You can’t try to prevent it. It just happened.”
With a shake of his head, he continued: “It wasn’t on my bingo card for 2024.”
To repair the rupture, May required what he described as “basically a full abdominal surgery” — lifting his shirt in front of his locker Friday to reveal a long vertical scar from his lower chest to his stomach.
Instead of completing the final stages of his elbow rehab, May embarked on a new six-month recovery in which he was barred from lifting any weights heavier than 10 pounds. Though he began light throwing activities in November, it wasn’t until around New Year’s that he was back to full strength.
“It just kind of gives me a different viewpoint on a lot of things in life,” May said, still striking a tone of disbelief. “Just seeing how something so non-baseball-related can just be like — it can be gone in a second. And the stuff it put my wife through, it definitely gave me [a feeling] of, ‘Wow, stuff can change like that.’ It was definitely very scary.”
This spring May has shifted his focus toward making the Dodgers’ opening-day roster and resuming his once-promising career.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone says he doesn’t want his players to behave in the same manner as some Dodgers players did after L.A. beat N.Y. in the World Series.
When healthy, the third-round draft pick has been superb for the Dodgers, amassing a 3.10 earned-run average and 174 strikeouts in 46 games (34 of them starts) since making his debut in 2019. He’s hopeful of getting back to that level, encouraged by his early bullpen sessions as he competes for the fifth and final rotation spot alongside Tony Gonsolin, Landon Knack, Bobby Miller and others in camp.
“If I’m healthy, I feel like I have a spot on this rotation,” said May, who manager Dave Roberts noted also could be an option for the bullpen. “I just have to go out and prove that.”
If May can, it will serve as a full-circle moment for the 27-year-old — offering a potentially rewarding end to the medical saga that prevented his return last year.
“It’s been a minute,” May said of finally being healthy again. “But I’m definitely excited, and definitely have a deeper appreciation for the game.”
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