Los Angeles Dodgers: Dustin May in the bullpen is still the right move

Heralded pitching prospect Dustin May is experimenting with a reliever role with the Los Angeles Dodgers that has not been met well by the fans.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were unable to go into Atlanta and take two out of three games as the team dropped Sunday’s finale by a final score of 5-3.

The difference in the contest ended up being a grand slam off the bat of Rafael Ortega in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was not the person that hit the ball that is getting the most attention, though. It is the person that was pitching.

It was not another bullpen meltdown by one of the usual suspects. Instead, the grand slam was surrendered by rookie Dustin May, who was making his debut out of the bullpen after three great starts for the big league club.

More from LA Sports Hub

The response to the grand slam was expected. Not many fans seem to agree with the Dodgers’ decision to move May to the bullpen and this grand slam serves as fuel to every naysayer’s fire.

And let me preface this: I completely understand why people hold this sentiment. May had three great starts, has been highly touted as a starter over the last year and came in the game after Tony Gonsolin, a fellow rookie who had a great start but also has more relief experience than May.

There is a difference between preparing in the bullpen rather than the starting rotation and I totally get that and common sense would tell you that May should be in the rotation and Gonsolin should be in the bullpen.

In reality, the Dodgers might end up using them both in the bullpen in October. Regardless, testing may in the bullpen is absolutely the right move to make and the team should continue testing him there.

Look, as good as May was in his three starts, he probably is not ready for the pressure of starting a postseason game. The Dodgers are understandably much more comfortable with running four experience starters out there instead of hoping that a rookie with two months of experience can control the nerves.

That does not remove the nerves from a relief appearance and you could make the argument that relief appearances have more pressure, which oftentimes they do. However, in those appearances, May can give his best stuff over an inning or two without worrying about pitch count or managing a game, which is another facet of being a postseason starter.

Plus, the Dodgers get a completely different piece out of the bullpen in May if he can turn this around, which I am confident that he can. This is a guy that can come in a throw a wipeout inning and be available to do the same the next night.

Or, he could come in as a bridge guy when Kenta Maeda starts, picking up the middle three innings of the game to keep hitters from timing Maeda and going on that mid-game surge that seems to always happen to the Dodgers in the postseason.

This is the Nathan Evoladi factor, the Noah Syndergaard factor from 2015. This is a young arm with electric stuff that these other teams have not seen before. Rather than starting him and letting the other team get familiar, the Dodgers can maximize his stuff with some big innings out of the bullpen.

It feels like every World Series team has this kind of guy out of the bullpen and the Los Angeles Dodgers just never have. Boston had Eovaldi, Houston had Charlie Morton, Chicago had Jon Lester come out of the ‘pen, Madison Bumgarner became more popular because of it.

Clayton Kershaw has not been that guy and should not be tasked to be that guy at this stage of his career. And maybe May isn’t that guy, maybe he isn’t ready. But I would rather find out that he is not ready in September rather than in October.

Next. 10 best teams in Dodger history. dark

He has the stuff to do it and can add a completely new dynamic to the team that has not been present the last seven years. That is why the Los Angeles Dodgers are right for experimenting with Dustin May in the bullpen.

Home/Los Angeles Dodgers