Finally back to health Dodgers starting pitcher Plum set a new career high in innings pitched

Dustin May broke his personal record with just two outs.

In Tuesday's home game against the New York Metropolitans, he was just 0.1 years away from tying the record for innings pitched in a single season. In the end, he threw six innings and lost two points, significantly surpassing the original record.

The previous record was 56 innings in the 2020 pandemic-shrunken season. To put it another way, after throwing 0.2 innings, his season total pitching has exceeded all the games he has played in the major leagues in the past five years combined. What's more, this game was the first time in his career that he started in June (after at least two starts in other months of the season).

The 27-year-old missed his prime-time due to injury, but has been a relatively consistent force in the Dodgers' rotation this season — 4.09 starting points in 11 games. "I think it's okay, and of course there's room for improvement," says May, "and the most important thing is that I'm healthy and pain-free at all." I was excited to be on the board for the first time in June, and I'm going to keep it up for the next time. "

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts' contribution to May is not surprising, but a new career high in innings is new. "The results of his rehabilitation efforts are clear," Roberts said June 11, "and the ball-playing strategy has been effective... He has plenty of fitness and potential to improve. This record is particularly significant considering the number of pitches made in recent years. "

May's career-high pitching season was in her 2019 major league debut: 106.2 innings in minor leagues + 34.2 innings in major leagues, after surpassing 130 innings in the previous two minor league seasons. While the total pitch is not unprecedented, the intensity of the major leagues is very different — not to mention that he hasn't shot a full season in years.

"It's been a long time since I've played as healthy as I am now," says May, "to get back to the feeling of the full season of 2019, but the physical condition is completely different. "

Mei and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are currently the only healthy pitchers left in the Dodgers' opening rotation (Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki are all on the injury list).

The season is still a long season for a pitcher who hasn't pitched that many innings in years. Mei is relying on experience and perception of her body to carefully adjust her state. "It's feeling good now," he said, "and the recovery is going well and the training in the starting line is going as planned." The only difference is that it doesn't hurt anymore. "