MLB Notebook: Dustin May excited to be with Red Sox after being 'pushed out’ by Dodgers, Tanner Houck and Marcelo Mayer updates, MLB Speedway Classic washed out

The Red Sox needed a starter at the trade deadline and with all the focus on the big names around the game, like the Twins’ Joe Ryan and the Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara, fans were salivating at the idea of one of those two, particularly Ryan, pitching behind Garrett Crochet.

Instead of striking a big deal, Craig Breslow made a lesser deal, offering an enticing prospect package to the Dodgers in exchange for right-hander Dustin May.

The Sox’ new starter will be their No. 5 starter behind Crochet, Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito, and Walker Buehler. Since 2020, May has started 48 of the 51 big league games he’s pitched in and is excited for the fresh start in Boston.

“I was kind of pushed out,” said May, who arrived in Boston on Saturday. “We had quite a few guys there in that organization. I couldn’t be more excited. It’s a thrill to be here and be a part of it.

“It was definitely a ride of emotions, up and down. Definitely sad leaving because I’ve been there for my whole career, but definitely very, very excited to be joining this organization and hope for a playoff push.”

Boston needed starting pitching depth with Tanner Houck (Tommy John), Hunter Dobbins (ACL), Kutter Crawford (wrist), and Patrick Sandoval (Tommy John) all out for the remainder of the season. May is an upgrade over Richard Fitts, who had been the club’s No. 5 starter the last couple of weeks.

May will make his team debut on Wednesday when he starts against the Royals at Fenway Park.

“He’s ready to go. Excited,” Alex Cora said. “I texted with Dave (Roberts) this morning about him. Everybody says he loves to compete, so he’s ready.

“He’s excited he’s gonna start. He told Bails (Andrew Bailey), and he told me he’ll do whatever we need him to do. That’s awesome, but we believe he can do the job as a starter. He can help us. His stuff is really good. Just a few adjustments. Organizations have different ideas for players, and hopefully, our ideas can help him.”

His last outing came on Sunday when the Dodgers were in town. May was tagged by a two-run blast by new teammate Alex Bregman and allowed four runs on five hits in five innings.

“For myself, it’s definitely been a roller-coaster,” May said of his 2025 campaign. “I’ve had a couple good ones, a couple really bad ones, and the rest have just been kind of in that mid-line. I definitely feel like there’s an uptick in stuff in the last month or so, and I feel like I’m kind of stepping into my groove. Hopefully, that translates.

“In most of my outings I’m really good, and then I have a blow-up inning. So just trying to limit that blow-up inning and, like, keep it on, like, a lower level.”

May is hopeful he can get some tips and pointers from his new teams that beat him last weekend. He also has familiarity with former Buehler and catcher Connor Wong, who he played with in the Dodgers minor league system.

“Walker had nothing but high praise for these guys, and then my pitching coaches over at the Dodgers had a lot of high praise for these guys as well,” May said. “So definitely excited to get to work with them and hopefully nail some things out and get some better results.”

May, who is eligible to become a free agent after the season, will turn 28 in September. This season with the Dodgers, he started 18 games and went 6-7 with a 4.85 ERA and 97 strikeouts with a 1.35 WHIP. He was set to be bumped out of the Dodgers rotation with Blake Snell and Emmet Sheehan returning to action. He didn’t ask the Dodgers for a trade, but Los Angeles’ president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, remained in contact with him on possibly being traded or sent to the minors.

“Communication was great,” said May. “It was kind of just like, if things kind of fit perfect on both ends, then we can make it work. I don’t think they were trying to push anything, but it worked on both sides. So I’m excited to be here.”

The Sox' new righty has thrown 104 innings, which is a career high. In parts of six major league seasons, May is 18-16 with a 3.71 ERA, and in the postseason, he’s 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA in nine appearances, six of them coming out of the bullpen. He has elite stuff, with his four-seam fastball sitting at 95.5 mph, and offers a sinker and sweeper. May has been ineffective at times this season, which made him a trade candidate. He’s recorded a 5.59 ERA while giving up 30 earned runs in 48 1/3 innings over night games (eight starts) since the beginning of June.

HOUCK TO HAVE SURGERY THIS WEEK

Houck is going to undergo Tommy John surgery this week, ending his season and putting all of his 2026 season in jeopardy.

“It’s unfortunate,” Houck said to reporters on Sunday morning. “It sucks. It’s a fun team to watch. It’s a fun team to be around. And just knowing I’m not going to be a part of it for the rest of the year, it’s hard. But I know I’ll bounce back better from this. I trust the medical staff here. I trust everyone. Got a great team around me that will help support me.”

Houck underwent an initial MRI back on May 14 and was diagnosed with a right flexor pronator strain. He said that the first MRI showed a good amount of inflammation in the flexor. He had a second MRI after his five rehab outings in the minors, and it showed “significantly worse” damage.

“It showed it got worse, definitely,” Houck said. “Flexor was torn a good bit. But it just didn’t feel right throwing; it didn’t feel normal. Kind of the way that I operate at a high whippy volume. Just never really felt like it got back to normal.”

He allowed 10 runs in 15 2/3 innings (5.74 ERA) on 18 hits and six walks while striking out 15 over five rehab outings (four starts). Four of those five outings came with the WooSox, and one outing was with the Sea Dogs.

Houck is hoping he will return in late 2026, but has not discussed a timeline with Dr. Keith Meister, who will perform the surgery.

"I know the minimum is probably around the 12-month mark, 12 to the 14-month mark,” said Houck. “With that being said, if everything goes right, 12 months from now, plan on being back out there, running out to the mound at Fenway. But you also got to do it the smart way, the correct way. And I gotta be honest with myself. If there’s a point in this where it doesn’t feel right and I need to take a step back, it’s what we’re gonna need to do. But I’m gonna do everything in my power to get back out there at this time next year and be essentially a trade deadline piece, come back, and help in 2026."

Houck has not looked like himself all season, dating back to spring training after taking a major step forward in 2024. He posted a 3.12 ERA in 30 starts over a career-high 178 2/3 innings and made his first career All-Star appearance. This season has presented a completely different scenario. He posted a 3.12 ERA in 30 starts over a career-high 178 2/3 innings before landing on the IL.

Before the club placed him on the 15-day IL, he had two blow-up outings over a four-week span. He allowed 12 runs (11 earned) in 2 1/3 innings on April 14 in Tampa. Following that, on May 12, he surrendered 11 runs (all earned) in 2 1/3 innings in Detroit. In his last 23 starts dating back to June 29 of last season, Houck is 2-8 with a 5.75 ERA.

Houck said that undergoing Tommy John surgery was the best decision for him and the longevity of his career.

“I want to pitch for another 10 years, 10-plus years,” he said. “And looking at a longevity standpoint, this is just the road that we decided to take.”

He also pointed out that fellow teammates Garrett Whitlock and Giolito both had similar procedures and came back strong for the Red Sox this season. Whitlock as right elbow ulnar collateral ligament repair in May 2024. Giolito had internal brace surgery during spring training last year.

“Look at what they’ve done this year; it’s incredible," Houck said. “So it’s just about trusting day-to-day work. It’s gonna be long, it’s gonna be hard, but I’m ready for it. I’ve made peace with it myself. Had a lot of long conversations with my wife—early mornings, late nights talking about it.”

MARCELO MAYER COULD MISS REST OF THE YEAR

Marcelo Mayer received an anti-inflammation injection Saturday for his sprained right wrist in an attempt “to get him back,” Cora said before the Red Sox’ 7-3 win on Saturday afternoon.

According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Mayer’s wrist injury is “more serious” than the club initially envisioned and could require season-ending surgery.

Mayer has been on the injured list since July 25 after he left the Sox’ game on July 23 with wrist discomfort. Cora said this is the “quickest” route to a return if it works for the 22-year-old.

“We have to wait three days to see if it works,” Cora said. “And then he starts doing baseball activities, and we see how he reacts to it.”

Before landing on the IL, Mayer had gone 8-for-27 (.296) in nine games. This season, he’s hitting .228/.272/.402 with four homers, eight doubles, one triple, 10 RBI, 20 runs, and eight walks in 44 games.

SPEED BUMP

Major League Baseball was set to make history on Saturday night.

The Braves and the Reds were supposed to play in the first-ever MLB Speedway Classic at Bristol Motor Speedway. Over 85,000 fans were set to watch the one-of-a-kind game, but instead, Mother Nature had other plans as rain poured down on the venue.

The game was initially delayed 2 hours and 17 minutes, but fans stuck around hoping to see the game finally get underway. Once the game finally got underway, Reds designated hitter Austin Hayes delivered an RBI single following infield hits by Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz, giving Cincinnati a 1-0 lead. The rain would continue to pummel the field, soaking the field, and subsequently the game was called and will be played on Sunday.

"(The field) got wet really fast," Hays said during the Fox broadcast. "I was kinda shocked when I got up there. The box is soaked already. So obviously they made the decision to dry it up just enough. Hopefully this rain will stop so we can keep this game going. … The game is why we're here. So we need to get it in."

Fox analyst and MLB Hall of Famer John Smoltz said that the multiple rain delays and the ultimate rain stoppage hurt the Reds more than the Braves.

"I can feel for these guys right now," Smoltz said during the broadcast. "These guys are gonna be extra tired after this night is over. … It's frustrating (for Chase Burns). Can't control it. And you're just hoping you can stay in the game as long as possible. … Terry (Francona) is not gonna be really, really happy at all. And he's gonna just talk about how he's gonna lose his young man as a starter now. It's a tough scenario. This is a tough break. Atlanta's in a totally different situation than the Cincinnati Reds as far as they're not gonna make the playoffs. Every game's important to them, but not as important as the game is for Cincinnati. And they're chasing some pretty good teams in front of them."

Both Burns and Spencer Strider are Tennessee natives and were looking to pitch more than an inning in their home state. 

Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson was pretty creative with his catcher's gear for the Speedway Classic. The gear he wore drew inspiration from the 2006 Will Ferrell movie, "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."

“A classic movie, and they did a great job, and I decided to wear it,” Stephenson said before the game.

In honor of both NASCAR and Ferrell, Stephenson had gear created to honor the Wonder Bread-sponsored No. 26 car. His chest protector was mostly white, and the Wonder Bread logo was replaced with “Cincinnati.”

The rest of his gear included flames on his shoulders, the Speedway Classic logo, Stephenson’s No. 37 in a race car-like font, the Reds’ ‘C’ logo with checkered flags, and the name “Tyler Robby” stitched on the bottom of the chest protector.

“It’s a sweet facility,” Stephenson said. “It turned out even better than the pictures online. It’s a totally different feel than the ‘Field of Dreams’ game. The historical part of ‘Field of Dreams’ was cool, but this is obviously a much bigger stage. What is it, 85,000-90,000 fans? It’s like playing in front of a football crowd.”

The game will resume at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday on FOX. The Bristol Motor Speedway gates will open at 10 a.m., and tickets for Saturday's originally scheduled game will be honored Sunday.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

- Cora isn’t confident that right-handed reliever Liam Hendriks will pitch again this season. 

- The Brewers have announced that All-Star starter Jacob Misiorowski was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left tibia contusion. Milwaukee is already without star outfielder Jackson Chourio, who is on the IL with a hamstring strain, and there’s concern around Sal Frelick’s knee.- 

- The Cubs designated reliever Ryan Pressly for assignment, and the Astros are interested in bringing him back to Houston, according to Nightengale.

- The Guardians cleared out the lockers for Luis Ortiz and closer Emmanuel Clase. Both pitchers are on paid leave amid an MLB investigation into gambling allegations. Clase is a three-time All-Star and has accrued 181 saves in five seasons with the Guardians, with a career 1.88 ERA. He is under contract for the 2026 season with a salary of $6.4 million, plus two $10 million team options for 2027 and 2028.

- Ryne Sandberg died this week at the age of 65 after a battle with metastatic prostate cancer, which he was diagnosed with in January 2024.

- Pete Alonso hit his 250th career home run, a three-run blast against the Giants.