The St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a one-year contract with right-handed pitcher Dustin May, pending a physical. It is St. Louis first impactful free-agent acquisition of the Chaim Bloom era as the club continues its rebuild heading into the 2026 season.
May was one of the youngest free agents available and attracted interest across the league due to his combination of age, raw stuff, and track record at the major league level. The 28-year-old split the 2025 season between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox after Los Angeles traded him at the deadline. In 25 appearances, including 23 starts, he posted a 7–11 record with a 4.96 ERA while throwing a career-high 132⅓ innings. That workload exceeded his combined total from 2021 through 2024, making the past season his first relatively healthy season after multiple significant setbacks.
Boston acquired May in exchange for outfield prospects Zach Ehrhard and James Tibbs III, but the move did not provide the expected rotation stability. With the Red Sox, May recorded a 5.40 ERA in six games before landing on the injured list in early September with right elbow neuritis, which kept him out of the postseason. The struggles were preceded by an inconsistent stretch with the Dodgers, during which he recorded a 4.85 ERA in 19 games.
May has battled multiple injuries over his career. He returned in 2025 after a Tommy John revision for a Grade 2 UCL sprain and flexor tendon surgery in his right elbow in 2023, followed by a torn esophagus in July 2024 that required surgery. Over seven big-league seasons, injuries have limited him to 324 innings across 71 games, 57 of them starts.
Statistically, May owns a 3.86 career ERA with 297 strikeouts, 100 walks, and 35 home runs allowed. Producing a 46.6% ground-ball rate, May’s sinker has consistently shown its effectiveness, previously reaching the high-90s in speed. In 2025, his average sinker velocity dipped to 94.5 mph as he worked to regain weight lost following surgery. Standing 6-foot-6, May increased his weight from 185 pounds early in the season to approximately 205 by year’s end and has since added more mass.
Pitch-wise, May relies heavily on a sweeper with elite horizontal movement, pairing it with a sinker that breaks sharply in the opposite direction. He also mixes in a four-seam fastball and a cutter, giving him a diverse fastball-heavy arsenal. Before his UCL injury in 2021, he carried a 2.93 ERA through his first 31 appearances and played a key role in Los Angeles' 2020 World Series championship.
For the Cardinals, May is a high-upside addition. With Sonny Gray traded earlier in the offseason, he will join Michael McGreevy, Matthew Liberatore, and other young arms in the rotation, offering innings while hoping to regain his earlier form.
