Position: Relief pitcher
Age: 33 (9/23/1989), B/T: R/R
Primary Stats: 26 G, 25 IP, 5.04 ERA, 1.440 WHIP, 30 SO, 9 BB, 27 H, 6 Holds
Advanced Stats: -0.1 bWAR, 78 ERA+, 3.87 FIP, .338 BABIP, 27.0 SO%, .265/.324/.431
2022 Salary: $7.75 million
Grade: C-
2022 Review
Trevor May was supposed to be a relief option in the late innings of games in the 2022 season. He was coming off a 2021 season where he recorded a 3.59 ERA, 16 holds, and four saves in a career-high 62 2/3 innings pitched. The Mets also looked to depend on May after they lost Miguel Castro, Aaron Loup, and Jeurys Familia during the off-season.
The optics did not match reality for May in 2022 as he struggled with injury and poor performance right out of the gate. In April, May pitched to a 7.36 ERA and allowed 11 hits, including two home runs in 7 1/3 innings pitched. Then, after pitching one inning in May where he allowed two earned runs against the Braves, May was sidelined until August due to tricep inflammation and a stress reaction in his humerus. The injury certainly informed the early poor results.
After several months on the injured list, May was reinstated and pitched for the entire month of August. While not perfect, the right-hander improved upon his rough start to the season and pitched to a 4.32 ERA and struck out 12 batters in 8 1/3 innings.
May had another setback at the beginning of September when he returned to the injured list due to COVID-19. When he came back, however, May dominated the competition. For September, May held batters to a slash line of .194/.286/.258 and struck out 10 batters in six innings pitched. In fact, the only two runs that May gave up in September came in one appearance against the Oakland Athletics, on September 24.
While May did not have the season that he or the organization envisioned, he locked in and pitched great down the stretch. May struck out 13.9 batters per nine innings after coming off the IL and was able to lower his ERA from 8.64 to 5.04 at the end of the season.
2023 Outlook
May is coming off an injury-riddled season with numbers that don’t match the back of his baseball card.
The Mets should take a flier on May going into the next season. The career-high 62 2/3 innings from 2021 may have caused injury and poor performance earlier in 2022 the season. May’s 3.87 FIP also indicates that he ran into some poor luck behind him in 2022 and should pitch to better results in 2023.
The Mets bullpen will also need to be rebuilt in the off-season. Edwin Díaz, Seth Lugo, Adam Ottavino, May, Trevor Williams, Tommy Hunter, and potentially Mychal Givens will all be free agents this off-season. Due to his injuries last season and age, May most likely will be the cheapest option to retain out of the previously mentioned names. However, if the Mets cannot retain May, there are plenty of other options to replace him within 2023.
