Dodgers pitcher Dustin May out for season after surgery to repair torn esophagus

Dodgers pitcher Dustin May will not return this season after undergoing esophageal surgery, the team announced Saturday .

According to a statement, May was at dinner Wednesday night when he felt a “sudden pain” in his throat and stomach that didn’t dissipate once he got home.

After contacting medical staff, May went into surgery and is “mending well,” according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly. The procedure, however, will sideline May for the rest of this season, dashing the Dodgers’ hopes of getting the pitcher — who has been on the injured list all year following elbow surgery last July — back on the mound.

The surgery came as a shock for the 26-year-old, who had been throwing bullpen sessions at the club’s complex in Arizona since May.

As recently as late June, manager Dave Roberts had called the right-hander’s progress “promising” — seemingly making him a potential late-season addition for a pitching staff that has dealt with myriad injuries. Instead, May's esophagus surgery serves as the latest unexpected blow to the Dodgers’ pitching plans.

A third-round draft pick in 2016, May has been an impact pitcher for the Dodgers when healthy, with a 3.10 ERA in five seasons. But injuries — which necessitated a 2021 Tommy John surgery and last year’s flexor tendon procedure — repeatedly have derailed the flame-thrower, limiting him to 20 starts since 2021.

“It's very, very unfortunate,” Roberts said Sunday. “I'm just happy he's OK. I was shocked just like everyone else."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .