The St. Louis Cardinals will see Dustin May from the other dugout on Sunday, when the Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander is projected to start against the team that drafted him for the first time. The matchup comes at Busch Stadium in the final game of a three-game series between two clubs that enter the weekend above.500.
May, now in his late 20s, was a third-round draft pick by the Dodgers in 2016 out of high school and reached the majors with Los Angeles at 21. He flashed upper-90s heat and touched triple digits in his first few seasons, then showed top-end results as well, posting an ERA under 3.00 twice in his first three years.
The arm talent never came with a clean workload. Over six seasons with the Dodgers, May threw more than 100 innings only once and fewer than 60 innings in the other five, a stop-start run that made him one of the more intriguing pitchers on the roster but also one of the hardest to count on for volume. Los Angeles moved on from him in 2025, sending him to the Red Sox for top prospect James Tibbs.
This weekend also lands at a demanding point for St. Louis, which has handled a solid start to a grueling 17-game stretch. The Cardinals are trying to keep pace in a series that carries a different financial backdrop as well, with the Dodgers spending more than $200 million more on payroll this year. One notable absence from the matchup: Shohei Ohtani will not pitch in the series.
For May, Sunday is more than just another turn in the rotation. It is a first look at the organization that drafted him, developed him and watched his career come in bursts, and it comes in a game that could help set the tone for both clubs heading into the heart of the season.
