Primary Stats: 68 G, 62 2/3 IP, 7-3 W-L record, 3.50 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 83 SO, 24 BB
Advanced Stats: 2.69 xERA, 3.74 FIP, .227 BAA, .302 BABIP, 22.2 K-BB %, 0.4 bWAR, 0.5 fWAR
2021 Salary: $7.75 million
Grade: B
2021 Review
The way Trevor May began the 2021 season, it looked like the first-year Met was in for a long year in Queens. On Opening Day, May allowed two hits, three runs (two earned), and a walk, all part of a complete letdown of an inning in a loss to the Phillies. By game’s end, his ERA was 54.00, and he already had his first loss.
By the end of April, though, May lowered his ERA all the way to 2.45. After that rough Opening Day outing, May pitched seven frames, allowing just one unearned run while striking out 12 batters.
In May, May (no pun intended) began to get hit a bit harder by East division teams. The tough stretch began with a May 11 appearance against the Orioles, in which the hurler allowed two hits and one run. A few days later in Tampa Bay, he allowed a game-tying double in the eighth inning that blew the save when an inherited runner scored. Then on May 17 and May 18 in Atlanta, May allowed a home run in back-to-back games. He ended the month by allowing three hits and two runs, including a home run, in Arizona, bringing a down month to a close – but one that still produced a 3.97 ERA.
After beginning June by allowing runs in three of his first four appearances, including a blown save in Phoenix and allowing two home runs in a game against the Cubs, May closed the month by throwing seven shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out 10 more batters. This success carried over into July, when May saved two ballgames, won an additional two, and allowed just one home run.
May’s worst mini-stretch in August was back-to-back appearances against Washington and San Francisco in which he allowed three runs in each game. The damage against the Nationals was done in just 1/3 of an inning, while the Giants connected for two home runs off of May. Although he only allowed one more run the rest of the month, on August 28 against those same Nationals, he actually ended up earning the win in that appearance.
The final month of May’s 2021 campaign was mostly flawless, although he did probably pitch his worst game of the season on September 11 against the Yankees. Without recording an out, May allowed three hits and two runs, including a game-tying home run to Aaron Judge. Even after May exited the game, the runner he left on first base ended up scoring, which ended up being the eventual game-winning run. However, this would be the final blown save and loss of the year for him. He closed out his season by recording two consecutive holds, although his final game saw him allow one more homer to the Braves on October 1.
Despite a miscue or two a month that resulted in an ugly statline, May mostly proved to be a reliable late-inning reliever, holding down the seven and eighth innings (depending on the game), and sometimes even getting work in the ninth. I think because May never was really pitching more than an inning per game, his rough outings stood out more so, especially when the home runs started coming in bunches. Thankfully for the Mets, the results were mostly positive for their new setup reliever, who ended the season with an ERA+ just slightly worse than his numbers over his past few years in Minnesota.
2022 Outlook
May is under contract again for 2022, and barring an unforeseen trade or marquee bullpen acquisition by the Mets, he should once again fit nicely into the team’s seventh- and eighth-inning reliever role. I’d also be open to seeing May get more opportunities to close games in 2022, as he did record a career-high in saves (four) this season in a limited number of opportunities.
