The Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox, both gunning for postseason position, reportedly completed a trade Thursday that will send pitcher Dustin May to Boston.
May, 27, hadn’t missed a start this season for a Dodgers team that has struggled to keep pitchers healthy all year. Yet when Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow and (soon) Blake Snell all returned to health, there was no room in the Dodgers’ rotation for the talented right-hander.
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Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report the trade Thursday on Twitter/X.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are acquiring outfield prospect James Tibbs III from the Boston Red Sox, according to a source familiar with the deal. Tibbs was acquired by the Red Sox from the Giants in the Rafael Devers trade.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) July 31, 2025
According to Robert Murray of FanSided.com on Twitter/X, the Red Sox will send outfield prospect James Tibbs — whom they acquired from the San Francisco Giants in the Rafael Devers trade in June — to the Dodgers. According to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, the Red Sox did not trade anyone off their 26-man roster in the deal.
The Red Sox were seeking starting pitching help in advance of the 6 p.m. ET Thursday trade deadline.
Free agent signee Walker Buehler, himself a former Dodger, is 6-6 with a 5.72 ERA in 18 starts in his first season in Boston. Richard Fitts (1-4, 4.83 ERA) and Hunter Dobbins (4-1, 4.13 ERA) were among the reasons the Red Sox were looking to improve on their 4.04 starters’ ERA, 15th in MLB.
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Enter May, who was second on the Dodgers this season in terms of both starts (18) and innings pitched (104). His 4.85 ERA made him the odd man out for a Dodgers team that is set to activate Snell from the injured list this weekend.
With Shohei Ohtani ramping up his workload in his return to pitching, and rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki hopeful to return from the injured list himself, the Dodgers’ front office deemed May expendable ahead of the deadline.
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At 6-foot-5 and boasting elite velocity and movement on his pitches, May has been a human gif machine during his six seasons in Los Angeles. The 2025 season, however, has been only his second healthy season as a member of the Dodgers’ rotation — the other being the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
In 65 career games (52 starts), May is 18-16 with a 3.71 ERA. He was an integral member of the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series roster, but was not available during their 2024 postseason run while he rehabbed an elbow injury.
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Elbow injuries limited May to 20 starts from 2021-24. Now, instead of heading to the Dodgers’ bullpen, he’ll join a Red Sox team looking to make noise in the American League playoff hunt.
Boston is 59-51, third place in the American League East and 1.5 games behind the New York Yankees for the top AL Wild Card berth.
Boston also acquired veteran pitcher Steven Matz from the St. Louis Cardinals prior to the deadline.
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