In the final minutes of the trade deadline, the Boston Red Sox struck a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for starting pitcher Dustin May. May slots into the final spot in the rotation, pushing out Richard Fitts, and is expected to make his Red Sox debut on Wednesday against the Royals. The 27-year-old righty is a free agent at the end of the season and is looking to improve on a rough first half of 2025.
May joins Boston sporting a 4.85 ERA over 104 innings this season. He has 97 strikeouts to 43 walks and a WHIP of 1.35. He'll be nearing his career high in innings pitched of 141.1 (majors and minors) from back in 2019, which is also the last time he passed the 100-inning threshold in a single season. The soon-to-be free agent let the Dodgers know he wanted to be a starting pitcher, and not pitch out of the bullpen. He has a -0.3 bWAR this season.
On the mound, May has a four-pitch mix. This season, he has leaned into his sweeper, making it his primary pitch for the first time in his career, throwing it 41% of the time. He pairs that with a sinker that he throws 36% of the time. His other two pitches are a 4-seam fastball (15%) and a cutter (7%). In the past, May has also mixed in a changeup, but hasn't thrown one this season.
What to expect from Red Sox's newest addition Dustin May
Pure filth on this Dustin May strikeout 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/9eLPOYSrDy
— MLB (@MLB) June 3, 2025
May's sweeper has been his most effective pitch this season. Opponents hit just .217 against it while slugging just .325. He likes to attack with it, throwing it over 50% of the time in two-strike counts. The righties' 4-seamer has also been extremely effective this year, with opponents hitting just .111 off it with a .206 slug; he just hasn't thrown it nearly as much.
His sinker and cutter have been his biggest problems this season. His sinker has an opponent batting average of .285 and a slugging percentage of .589. To put that in perspective, Alex Bregman was hitting .293 with a .535 slug following the series against the Astros. The righty's cutter has also been teed off against. He's allowed thirteen hits in just 25 plate appearances, with five doubles and a home run.
Though it's been a rough year for the former Dodgers third-round pick, Andrew Bailey will work with him through the final months of the season. One thing going for May is that he has almost the same arsenal as Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello. Crochet and Bello have thrown all the same pitches as May this season, just with the changeup, which May has thrown in the past. Not to say that May is going to turn into a top-of-the-rotation arm, just that it can't hurt that the Sox have seen this exact pitch mix this season.