May's injury a test of Dodgers' pitching depth

This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio’s Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Over the first month and a half of the season, the Dodgers didn’t suffer any major injuries. Will Smith missed two weeks with a concussion, but the team was always confident that wasn’t going to be a long-term injury. The same goes for J.D. Martinez’s back injury, which also sidelined him for two weeks.

But this week, that injury luck changed in a big way when right-hander Dustin May exited Wednesday’s game against the Twins in the first inning with a right flexor pronator strain. May is now expected to miss at least one month. Given May’s injury history and how cautious the Dodgers will be, the recovery will likely take even longer than that.

Getting May back for the stretch run is the Dodgers' priority, but now they’ll have to navigate without the flamethrower for about two months. Can the Dodgers withstand such a blow to the rotation? Who do they turn to?

The most likely answer, at least for the foreseeable future, is bringing Gavin Stone back from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Stone, the Dodgers’ No. 4 prospect per MLB Pipeline, made his debut against the Phillies on May 3 and allowed four earned runs on eight hits over four innings of work.

Stone’s performance doesn’t indicate how much the Dodgers like and believe in him going forward. He’ll likely get a couple of starts in May’s absence, giving him a longer “runway,” as manager Dave Roberts calls it. If Stone shows he can handle that responsibility, nobody would be surprised if he kept a spot in the rotation even once May returns, especially if Noah Syndergaard continues his season-long struggles.

But if Stone doesn’t perform, the Dodgers would have to re-evaluate what they want to do. Michael Grove, a candidate to be activated as a long reliever soon, would become an option. The same goes for Ryan Pepiot, but he’s still starting his throwing progression after suffering an oblique strain during the Freeway Series.

Bobby Miller, the Dodgers’ top pitching prospect, has now made four starts with Triple-A Oklahoma City, but he won't be considered for a spot any time soon. Miller is still working his way back from a right shoulder injury that slowed him down all spring. He also hasn’t been very effective in his four outings, posting a 5.65 ERA over 14 1/3 innings. However, Miller’s last outing was encouraging; he allowed one run on two hits and struck out six over six innings.

In the end, the Dodgers have a plethora of options moving forward. But none has been as effective as May, creating a big hole in the rotation for the upcoming months.