The Boston Red Sox are battling many injuries as they push for a postseason spot, mostly to their pitching staff. One of their arms may be able to return soon, but with a potential cost.
The Red Sox placed Dustin May on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 6, with elbow neuritis. The righty hasn't appeared in a game since September 3. He threw a live batting practice session on September 32 in Fort Myers, and he's scheduled to throw another on Friday, September 26 (per Christopher Smith of MassLive).
May hopes to return in time to pitch in the postseason. If his live BP goes well and his recovery keeps trending up, he could be reinstated at any time, since it's been more than 15 days since his IL stint began. But before he returns, the Red Sox need to decide if they want to add him to their playoff roster.
Boston acquired May from the Dodgers at the trade deadline and his brief tenure with the club has been rocky. The 28-year-old has posted a 5.40 ERA with 26 strikeouts and 13 walks in 28.1 innings since his trade to the Red Sox. May has posted a total of 132.1 innings this year, over 76 more than his previous career high, which came in 2020.
Dustin May hopes to return from IL for the postseason, but should the Red Sox add him to their roster?
One of the benefits to reinstating May to join the potential playoff roster is that the Sox could use him in either the rotation or bullpen. He would give Boston flexibility if there were any injuries in the rotation or bullpen, or exhaustion in the pitching staff.
May also has more playoff experience and experience, in general, than many other current Red Sox pitchers. Payton Tolle and Connelly Early just made their MLB debuts in September, and given some of their latest outings, playoff baseball could be more pressure than they're ready for at this stage in their careers. May has posted a 3.86 ERA and a 1.429 WHIP with 14 strikeouts and seven walks over 14 innings between the Dodgers' 2019 and 2020 postseason runs.
May has posted wildly inconsistent outings on the mound this year, and it could be as much of a risk to reinstate him for the postseason as it could be to use Early or Tolle. He's struggled to limit damage and walks during his tenure with the Red Sox and beyond, but he has more playoff experience than many of his teammates on the pitching staff.