LOS ANGELES-- Remember what Dustin May looked like early in the 2021 season, prior to his elbow betrayed him?

Remember how he had such command, the pitches were moving as if he managed them with a joystick? And keep in mind the joy and the enthusiasm with which he pursued his craft, the big kid with the curly mop of red hair bouncing all over the location?

He's back.

Better than ever? It's very early to make that declaration, however think about: May got into, and through, the seventh inning for the very first time in his major league career Friday night against Arizona-- the very first time, in truth, considering that a Double-An appearance for Tulsa in June of 2019, simply six weeks before he was contacted to the Dodgers-- and he made it almost look easy.

He was running to the mound to start innings and really avoided off the mound after ending an inning with a strikeout. And while the first start of the season is obviously a little sample size, it recommends that one of the numerous uncertainties with the 2023 Dodgers may be a little less unpredictable today.

Might threw 84 pitches against the Diamondbacks, 56 for strikes, striking 100 miles per hour with two first-inning pitches and later settling into a 96-98 mph groove with his four-seamer. Just one of those fastballs accounted for a swing and miss; he had 8 for the video game, half of them ending up off his four strikeouts, and three came on sinkers, 2 on curveballs and 2 on cutters, according to Baseball Savant.

However he was effective, getting nine outs on the ground and 2 popups and just a handful of hard-hit balls, and walking just one.

This is what the Dodgers, and their fan base, have actually been waiting for, dating to the night of his launching against the Padres in 2019, when the concept was that they were releasing their most current pitching phenom.

( For what it's worth, they didn't win that night against San Diego, a 5-2 loss in which he quit four runs, 3 earned, in 5-2/3 innings. And they didn't win Friday night, either, due to the fact that Kyle Lewis took a hanging slider from reducer Alex Vesia in the eighth and turned a 1-0 Dodger lead into what turned out to be a 2-1 Arizona victory.).

I00t has actually been a circuitous path for May to this point, one that was derailed on that Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee two years earlier when he walked off the mound with uncertainty.

The tip that possibly it's prematurely to say he's better than ever? Supervisor Dave Roberts doesn't rather agree.

" I'll inform you, I believe he's much better than he was in the past," Roberts stated. "And I state that because, you know, going through that rehab procedure, there's a maturity that needs to occur. And I think that that's one component. The shipment is as constant as I've ever seen it. And so for me, I think the net he's a better major league pitcher than he was, you know, call it 18, 19 months earlier.".

The passion is still there, and May said it had actually never left. There was that skip off the mound after he fanned Geraldo Perdomo in the 5th-- the first time he's done that, May said.

" It was sort of unintended, however I had already bounced back up and I had actually already spun, so I simply kept going," he stated.

And there are the times he self-corrects, loudly enough to be heard throughout a spring training ballpark, but not so obvious in the middle of a big crowd in a big league stadium.

" I've constantly been, wear my heart on my (sleeve) when I'm on the mound," he stated.

Said Roberts before Friday's video game: "I don't want to take the feelings away from him, since he's an emotional man which's what makes him tick, and he feeds off that. I do think there's been a concerted effort in attempting to handle it a little bit much better.".

May stated he was ready to make his case to go back to the mound for the seventh, however Roberts didn't see any reason why he shouldn't continue, because of the low pitch count.

" He was really effective," Roberts said. And so I just thought versus right, versus left, it simply didn't make any sense to go to anyone (else) at that point in time.".

Said May: "If he had actually come by I 'd have attempted to bargain with him to go back out. However he didn't, he let me go back out, so that was a good self-confidence increase for me. ... I was extremely excited that he trusted me to go back out and get three more outs.".

It was, he stated, really motivating, and something to construct on. And when asked how close he is to his pre-surgery self, he answered:.

" I feel quite close. I imply, I do not know what the difference would be between previously and today. Everything's been feeling quite in line, so I've just got to keep going.".

It is a really positive indication for the top of the Dodgers' rotation if May, slotted in between Julio Urías and Clayton Kershaw, can be not just as excellent as his old self but much better.

And perhaps it's part of what may be a more fascinating season than all of those 100-win projects. This is a team with concerns, and we clearly will not get all or even most of the responses right now.

The exploration procedure will be often aggravating, sometimes painful on nights like Friday, however it will hardly ever be dull.

jalexander@scng.com.