Los Angeles Dodgers: Previewing Dustin May’s first start in Dodger blue

Highly-touted pitching prospect, Dustin May, is making his debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night against the San Diego Padres.

Friday night’s Los Angeles Dodgers game is not only going to have fireworks after the game but is also going to have fireworks on the field as Dustin May is making his MLB debut on the mound.

May is one of the top prospects in all of baseball. According to MLB Pipeline, May is the Dodgers’ second-best prospect behind middle infielder Gavin Lux and is the 35th-best prospect in the entire league.

Fans got a taste of what May had to offer in Spring Training this year as his high leg kick and nasty stuff dazzled the crowd. After a trade deadline in which the Dodgers refused to trade May, he is taking up this August start as a potential tryout for October.

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I would not expect May to be on the roster for the rest of the year, so please do not get mad at the Dodgers and say they do not know what they are doing when he gets called back down. May is likely going to make this start and then go back to AAA once Ross Stripling comes back off the DL.

Expect May to be back on the big league club in September, when the roster expands to 40 guys. From there, he will likely be given a bullpen role to see if he can help the club as early as this year in the playoffs as a bullpen arm.

Then next year, when Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu probably leave the team, May will join the rotation alongside another young arm, Julio Urias.

So even if he is great tonight, do not expect to see much of him until September. He might get one more start if Stripling is not healthy in time, but I would not count on it.

Either way, the Dodger bats are going to look to give him plenty of insurance to make sure that his first big league start is a good one. As part of our Los Angeles Dodgers Beat the Streak series, here is who we think will get at least one base hit on Friday.

Jason’s pick (Current streak: 0): Justin Turnner

The Los Angeles Dodgers do not hit southpaw Eric Lauer very well. Of the 21 hits that the Dodgers have against Lauer, 10 are from players that will not be playing tonight (Chris Taylor, Enrique Hernandez and Jedd Gyorko).

Thus, we are forced to go with a player that does not have great numbers against Lauer in Justin Turner, despite it being a lefty-on-righty matchup.

Turner has just one hit in ten career at-bats against Lauer with three walks and three strikeouts, not the greatest of numbers.

He also went 0-4 last night, which might not be all that promising. However, Turner is such a good hitter that he is bound to turn it around from a hitless night and extend my streak.