Dustin May Agrees to Deal with St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are taking a calculated gamble on upside. They’ve inked 28-year-old right-hander Dustin May to a free agent deal that could reshape their rotation.

After a winding, injury-riddled path that’s included everything from Tommy John surgery to a torn esophagus, May lands in St. Louis as one of the most intriguing reclamation projects on the pitching market.

Dustin May to the Cardinals: A High-Upside Rotation Bet

Dustin May hits free agency as a rare mix of age, experience, and untapped ceiling. At just 28, he’s younger than plenty of established starters out there, yet he already has postseason experience and flashes of elite performance on his résumé.

The Cardinals, always searching for impact arms, seem perfectly willing to live with some risk to chase that upside. His agreement with St. Louis is pending a physical, which makes sense given his lengthy medical history.

If he passes, the Cardinals get a pitcher whose story is equal parts promise and persistence. It’s hard not to root for a comeback like this.

A Long Road Back From Multiple Setbacks

May’s 2024 season was his first real workload as a major league starter, though it came with plenty of turbulence. He opened the year on the shelf, missing the first 3½ months with an arm injury.

Just as he was building back up, he got derailed again — this time by a torn esophagus, a bizarre and serious issue that required surgery in July 2024. That surgery took a toll on his weight, strength, and stamina.

May dropped to around 185 pounds during the ordeal and had to grind his way back to roughly 220 pounds by year’s end. That physical rebuild showed up on the radar gun: his signature power sinker, once touching 98 mph, averaged about 94.5 mph as he worked to regain his body and mechanics.

From Dodgers Prospect to Battling Through Boston

Once considered a crown jewel of the Dodgers’ pitching pipeline, May’s trajectory has never been a straight line. He rose quickly through their system and became a key arm during the 2020 World Series run.

But then came injuries. In 2021, he underwent Tommy John surgery, wiping out most of that year and throwing his development off track.

More recently, he battled neuritis in his right elbow. It seems nothing’s come easy for him.

Midseason Trade and 2024 Results

Last season turned into a pivot point. The Dodgers, facing their own roster and payroll decisions, traded May midyear to the Boston Red Sox.

Across both stops, he posted a 7–11 record with a 4.96 ERA over a career-high 132⅓ innings. Those numbers look modest, but for May they meant something bigger: durability and volume for the first time in his big league life.

Before 2024, May had never thrown more than 56 innings in a season. Simply taking the ball regularly was a step forward, even if his stuff and command weren’t always at their best as he rebuilt physically and mechanically.

The Numbers Behind the Upside

Despite the bumpy road, the underlying track record shows why a team like the Cardinals would bet on a rebound. Over seven major league seasons, May owns:

That ground ball rate stands out for a club like St. Louis, which loves infield defense and run prevention. When May’s right, his sinker generates weak contact, keeps the ball in the park, and sets up his secondary stuff.

Reclaiming Pre-Injury Dominance

At his best, May has looked like a frontline-caliber arm: heavy, late-moving sinkers, sharp breaking stuff, and the ability to miss bats while still living at the bottom of the zone. The challenge since the injuries — especially the esophagus surgery and weight loss — has been keeping that explosiveness deep into games and deep into the season.

The Cardinals are hoping a full, healthy offseason and continued strength gains will bring back more of that velocity and life. Even a partial return to his earlier form could turn this into a sneaky good bargain.

What Dustin May Brings to the Cardinals’ Rotation

For St. Louis, this signing fits a pattern: target arms with some volatility but real upside, rather than just settling for back-end placeholders. May looks like a potential mid-rotation starter with the ceiling to be more if health and consistency finally cooperate.

Given his history, the Cardinals will probably manage his workload and keep a close eye on his mechanics and recovery. If his physical clears and the medical staff can keep him on the mound, they might’ve landed one of the more quietly impactful arms of the offseason.

A Classic Risk-Reward Play

There are no guarantees with a pitcher who’s endured Tommy John surgery, elbow neuritis, and even a torn esophagus before turning 30. That’s exactly why May became such an intriguing free agent: the risk is obvious, but so is the potential reward.

If he can steady himself and get anywhere near his pre-injury form, the Cardinals might see their gamble pay off when it matters most in October. Not just during the grind of the regular season, either.

These days, teams chase the next difference-making arm almost obsessively. St. Louis decided Dustin May is worth that roll of the dice.

It’s all on May’s health now—and, honestly, on the Cardinals’ development and medical staff, too. Who knows how high this upside play might go?

 
Here is the source article for this story: Sources: Cardinals agree to deal with RHP May