GLENDALE, Ariz. >> Expectations were high for Dustin May’s return from Tommy John surgery last season — none more so than his own.

“If you don’t have high expectations for yourself then nobody will,” May says now.

May was starting to live up to the expectations created by his explosive pitch mix early in 2021. In five starts, he had a 2.74 ERA, an 0.96 WHIP and struck out 35 of the 93 batters he faced. Then the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow gave way and he underwent the ligament-replacement procedure.

He returned 15 months later and made six starts down the stretch last season before a lower back injury ended his season early. There were flashes in those starts of the dominant starter he was blossoming into in 2021. But more often, there was a frustrated pitcher trying to rediscover himself. May walked 14 and hit five more batters, struggling with his command.

A year further removed from that surgery now, the hope is that May can get back on track to becoming a dominant starter.

“It’s not like I can do any more than I’m going to be doing out there,” May said of those expectations. “I’m going to be giving 100% like I did last year. It’s just that last year I sucked. Let’s just hope it’s better this year.”

Advised that control is often the last thing to return following Tommy John surgery and his assessment might be a little harsh, May shook off the sign.

“No excuses,” he said. “I should have been able to throw strikes.”

May acknowledged that “my stuff was there” and pinned the blame for his inconsistent command on “a couple mechanical cues” that had gotten away from him during his rehab.

“I wasn’t getting my body in the right positions and I was just flinging the ball instead of being able to throw it where I wanted to,” he said.

“I was really getting stuck on my back side, on my back leg and it was kind of creating a jump forward and my arm was late. Now we kind of cleaned it back up to where I was pre-surgery so it’s more of a flow down the mound instead of a drop-sit-jump.”

Adjustments in his offseason conditioning program to focus on more “lateral movement, explosive stuff” have addressed that. It’s a long way from where he was a year ago when he wasn’t able to throw off a mound until the final week of spring training.

Now the question is how much May will be allowed to throw this season. The Tommy John surgery and rehab have blown a hole in the 25-year-old’s development process. May made his major-league debut in 2019 but hasn’t thrown more than 56 innings in a season since then. The Dodgers will likely manage his workload carefully this season.

“I don’t think there’s any hard numbers, even close to that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But I think that keeping that somewhere front of mind, knowing the recency of Dustin, will help us manage him. It’s kind of a week-to-week, month-to-month kind of thing and we’ll re-assess. I’m sure we’ll keep changing depending on how he feels.

“Obviously, it’s going to be different for him versus a guy that was healthy all last year. We’re definitely going to be mindful of it. With Dustin, he looks strong, strong of mind as well. He’s a great competitor. So he’s always going to want more. I don’t know kind of right now, the limitations, but certainly being mindful of the last year and what he had to go through, we’ve got to be cognizant of that. ... I’m excited for him to start the season healthy and not being in that rehab mode.”

Lid lifter

Roberts said right-hander Michael Grove will start Saturday’s first Cactus League game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Veteran reliever Matt Andriese and left-hander Bryan Hudson are among those also expected to pitch.