Red Sox acquire Dustin May in trade with Dodgers

The Boston Red Sox acquired starter Dustin May from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, filling their need for pitching help.

May, a pending free agent who is out of options, also has experience pitching out of the bullpen but has expressed a desire to remain a starting pitcher.

A dynamic right-hander who commands a sweeper, a power sinker and a fastball that reaches the upper 90s, May returned from a prolonged absence this year and helped stabilize an injury-riddled Dodgers rotation, posting a 4.85 ERA in 19 games (18 starts). May, 27, struck out 97 batters and issued 43 walks in 104 innings.

The Dodgers found May to be expendable with Tyler Glasnow healthy, Yoshinobu Yamamoto turning in a solid season, Shohei Ohtani getting stretched out as a starter and Blake Snell expected to return to the rotation after a four-month absence this weekend. The Dodgers also have Clayton Kershaw and Emmet Sheehan as starting options.

Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said the team had “respectful conversations” with May, during which “it was apparent that starting was very important to him.” Gomes added that May did not specifically ask for a trade, though his desires undoubtedly motivated the move.

May was a key contributor on the Dodgers team that won the World Series during the COVID-shortened 2020 season but compiled just 20 major league starts from 2021 to 2024. Last summer, May was coming back from flexor tendon surgery when he suffered an esophageal tear while chewing on a piece of lettuce, prompting life-saving surgery and again ending his season prematurely.

In exchange for May, the Dodgers received outfielder James Tibbs III, the 13th pick in last year’s draft out of Florida State. Tibbs, acquired by Boston from the San Francisco Giants in the Rafael Devers trade, is slashing .232/.359/.404 in Class A and Double-A this season.