Dustin May’s first Red Sox start was a complete dud, and any thought of buyer’s remorse in Boston was likely intensified by what went down in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The Sox gave the ball to May for the first time since acquiring him shortly before last week’s trade deadline. It was the sort of experience Dodgers fans became accustomed to seeing from the big right-hander, who once upon a time was a top prospect for Los Angeles.

May couldn’t even get out of the fourth inning, posting a final line of 3 2/3 innings, three runs on six hits with a walk and two hit batters. Boston couldn’t recover and lost to the Kansas City Royals, and in the process kissed a seven-game winning streak goodbye.

Meanwhile, the guy they traded for May was having himself a night. James Tibbs III, the No. 13 pick in the 2024 draft whom the Red Sox acquired in the Rafael Devers trade, chose quite the night for one of his best professional performances. The 22-year-old slugger loaded up the box score, going 4-for-4 with two home runs, two walks and three runs scored for Double-A Tulsa.

Tibbs is sure showing the power potential that made him a top draft pick. He has 15 home runs in 91 games across three different teams this season. That alone doesn’t mean much in his overall development, and his .237 batting average suggests there’s plenty to clean up moving forward.

Yet, it was always a bit of a risk for the Red Sox to trade him in the fashion they did. For starters, turning around and flipping one of the pieces you got for a franchise cornerstone is at best an unusual move. What makes it even more peculiar, however, is they did so for May, a rental who essentially asked out of LA. The Red Sox presumably had some sort of leverage in those discussions, especially at the buzzer with the reports of a deal coming down shortly before the deadline.

Granted, May’s stinker and certainly Tibbs’ minor league effort were both overshadowed Wednesday by a much more important bit of Red Sox news with Boston locking in franchise cornerstone Roman Anthony to a long-term contract extension.

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