The Milwaukee Brewers had no choice but to pull Dustin May after his first pitch against the New York Mets.
In an extremely unfortunate situation, the Milwaukee Brewers had to pull recently acquired right-handed pitcher Dustin May after his first pitch against the New York Mets.
Leadoff center fielder A.J. Ewing hit a ball 106 mph off the bat that hit May square in the back.
May, 28, was coming off a horrendous two-inning start where he allowed seven earned runs. Instead of getting a chance to get back on track, he was pulled after his first pitch and now has a major question mark attached to his name.
Milwaukee had to go out and get a starting pitcher at the trade deadline because they learned they'd be without both Quinn Priester and Brandon Woodruff the rest of the year.
Brewers await the status of May
While he attempted a few warm-up pitches to stay in the game, it was a nearly foregone conclusion that once he was hit, he was coming out.
Manager Pat Murphy wasn't about to take any chances, especially since he's already lost a pair of starters this year due to injury.
This wasn't an example of May's velocity being down like with what happened with Woodruff; rather, an unfortunate swing from Ewing that caught him square in the back at 100+ mph.
Robert Gasser, who was scheduled to start later in the week, had to scramble to come out of the bullpen. Thankfully, he was rock-solid and was able to record the final two outs in just four pitches.
According to the Brewers broadcast, May is the first starter since 2021 to throw exactly one pitch and then be pulled from a game.
Brewers couldn't afford this during a 16-game stretch
There's no need to speculate about a potential injury or where May goes from here, but it was the smart decision to get him in the trainers' room.
Milwaukee's four-headed monster in the postseason was set to include May alongside Jacob Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison, and Logan Henderson. If May isn't in the equation, who do the Brewers go with as their fourth starter?
Hopefully, that's not a conversation that needs to take place. For now, all they can do is focus on the game that's currently going on, and it's one where Murphy put the ball in Gasser's hand and is going to hope he can go deep into this one.
Remember, the Brewers are currently in game three of a 16-game stretch. Their next day off isn't until Thursday, Sept. 10.
