Although the New York Mets just missed out on signing one right-handed pitcher named Trevor in the form of last year’s Cy Young award winner Trevor Bauer— they still wound up with another pretty decent Trevor in reliever Trevor May, who they signed to a two-year, $15.5 million deal this offseason.
May is a unique player, who is known for his off the field hobbies of podcasting and doing live twitch video game streaming. He is now also a recurring co-host on Jomboy Media’s newest show, “The Chris Rose Rotation,” hosted by former longtime MLB Network host Chris Rose.
Rose’s first episode of the series debuted on March 1 with May making the first appearance out of the show’s loaded list of co-hosts via current big leaguers: Archie Bradley, Steven Brault, Lucas Giolito, Tyler Glasnow and Miguel Rojas.
During this hour long interview, Rose asked May how it felt after Bauer snubbed the Mets in free agency in dramatic fashion by signing with the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I knew how he wanted to do it on YouTube, how he wanted it to come down to two teams and the way he likes to get everyone going and fired up. All that stuff didn’t surprise me one bit,” May told Rose.
Rose followed this up by asking if May was “pissed” at the situation to which the relief pitcher candidly expressed his disappointment.
“A little bit — who wouldn’t want the pitcher that just won the Cy Young to come to the same team as the runner up (Jacob deGrom)? I’d love to be able to come in three out of five days of the week and say “hey guys, the bullpen’s closed — good luck,” said May.
As May went on to note, he understood Bauer’s decision given the Dodgers are his hometown team and the defending World Series champions, but he still would’ve liked to have that talent and personality in the Mets’ clubhouse.
According to May, he has actually spoken to Bauer a number of times and “picked his brain” about pitch design and analytics. Bauer is also the reason that May purchased a slow motion camera to record his mechanics.
After the Mets missed out on Bauer, they did show brief interest in 40-year-old starting pitcher Rich Hill — a friend and former teammate of May’s with the Minnesota Twins. May admitted to sending him a subtle, yet unsuccessful recruitment text saying how he would love to be able to pitch on the same team together again, which did not receive a response.
However, the Mets wound up going in a different direction signing free-agent starter Taijuan Walker to a two-year, $20 million contract with a third-year option for 2023.
Looking ahead, now that the pitching staff is set and spring training has begun, May is excited to be with his new team and had some praise for catcher James McCann, who he referred to as one of the hardest working guys he has ever been around.
“He’s one of the most notoriously hardworking catchers in the league. Trust me, the guy has been there (at the facility) at 6 a.m. every morning. Him and deGrom have just been breaking down signs and scouting reports. Every time I walk into the clubhouse they are talking about it,” said May.
May is hoping to gain similar chemistry with McCann and recapture a campaign close to the best season of his career back in 2019, where he posted a 2.94 ERA and struck out 79 batters in 64.1 innings. Overall, he recorded a 4.44 ERA and 367 strikeouts in six seasons with the Minnesota Twins since making his debut back in 2014.
The 31-year-old is set to take on a large role as the setup man in the Mets’ bullpen and will need to help carry the load with Seth Lugo (elbow surgery) expected to be out for at least the first six weeks of the regular season.
In addition to pitching for the Mets this year, May will appear as a co-host every three weeks on “The Chris Rose Rotation,” during the season, as well.
