Dodgers Pitcher Reveals He Almost Died Last Year

Maren Angus-Coombs | Feb 16, 2025

Feb 12, 2025; Glendale, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Dustin May stretches with teammates during a Spring Training workout at Camelback Ranch. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Last year was supposed to be different for Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Dustin May.

Sidelined since mid-2023 after undergoing flexor tendon surgery and a Tommy John revision, the hard-throwing right-hander was progressing toward a return before the season ended.

Until one bad bite of salad almost killed him.

By early July, he was only a week away from beginning a minor-league rehab assignment and about a month from a potential return to the roster.

However, one night in July wrecked all of his plans for the rest of the year.

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May recalled the night he ruptured his esophagus due to lettuce stuck in his throat in an exclusive interview with Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.

“It was definitely a life-altering event,” May said Friday, recounting the ordeal for the first time publicly with Harris. “It was definitely very serious. It’s not a very common surgery. It was definitely an emergency.”

So much so, he added, “I probably wouldn’t have made it through the night if I didn’t have it.”

May remembers the "mega-painful" sensation that followed a bite of salad for roughly 15 minutes but when it calmed down, he didn't think much of it.

“I’m not a big panicker,” he said. “It kind of chilled out. So I was like, ‘I’m fine. I don’t need to do anything.’”

May's wife, Millie, told him they should go to the emergency room and get it checked out.

Roki Sasaki, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dustin May were among those getting active in day 1 of Dodgers spring training 🤞

Check out the FULL BTS of their workouts here: https://t.co/5E7m1AQfb1 pic.twitter.com/r0ELzzsi9s

— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) February 11, 2025

Thank goodness for her gut feeling that something was terribly wrong because May immediately had a CT scan using contrast fluid which revealed the severity of his tear. Doctors told him he needed surgery and it couldn't wait.

His comeback was shelved and his life was on the line.

To fix the rupture, May underwent what he called "essentially a full abdominal surgery." In front of Harris, he lifted his shirt in front of his locker, showing a long vertical scar running from his lower chest to his stomach.

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Instead of continuing his rehab, May was barred from lifting any weights heavier than 10 pounds for six months. He began lightly throwing in November and was cleared to resume full-strength activities around New Year's.

The freak injury has given May a new outlook on life as he is living proof of just how quickly it can change.

“It just kind of gives me a different viewpoint on a lot of things in life,” May said, still striking a tone of disbelief. “Just seeing how something so non-baseball-related can just be like — it can be gone in a second. And the stuff it put my wife through, it definitely gave me [a feeling] of, ‘Wow, stuff can change like that.’ It was definitely very scary.”

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