The Milwaukee Brewers have a knack for acquiring pitchers with arm talent and fixing whatever flaw they previously had with other organizations. That was the hope when they acquired right-hander Dustin May at this year’s trade deadline in a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.
May had dealt with major arm injuries throughout his entire career up until this point but had finally gotten healthy with St. Louis and was a reliable backend starter. His tenure in Milwaukee is off to a rough start however, as he has allowed 10 runs in just 15 1/3 innings of work.
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To make matters worse, his fourth start with his new club ended after he threw just one pitch. During Wednesday’s start against the New York Mets, May was drilled by a comebacker off the bat of leadoff hitter A.J. Ewing, a ball that came off at 106 mph and struck him in his upper back right near his right throwing shoulder.
May immediately exited the game with trainers and the Brewers were forced to turn to the bullpen. During the game, Milwaukee provided the first update on his condition.
“From the Brewers: Dustin May exited with a right scapula contusion. X-rays negative,” wrote Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
For the Brewers this is the best-case scenario, as there does not appear to be any structural damage and May is dealing with what amounts to a bruise.
It is unclear what the plan is for him moving forward. Manager Pat Murphy will likely provide more details after the game against the Mets wraps up, including whether May will be able to take his next turn in the starting rotation.