New York Mets’ right-hander Trevor May will be out of action for a while. He has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in the lower part of his humerus bone, and will be forced to be on the shelf for the next 8-12 weeks.
He had allowed eight earned runs in 8.1 innings to open 2022, and while most relievers are used to pitch with some sort of pain, he knew something wasn’t quite right. An MRI confirmed that and the Mets now have a diagnosis and a treatment plan.
On Wednesday, you could definitely see that May, even though he wasn’t really pitching well, will be missed in the Mets’ bullpen. Fellow righty Adam Ottavino was asked to pitch for a third straight day, and he entered with the bases loaded. He walked in a run and conceded a two-run double to the next batter. After an RBI single, he left the game, but the damage was done.
A lopsided loss for the Mets
In the end, the Mets ended up losing 9-2 to the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. “It was kind of a byproduct of having to compete with our guys yesterday to win those two games,” manager Buck Showalter said to MLB.com, talking about the Mets’ doubleheader sweep of the Braves on Tuesday.
Without May, everybody in the bullpen will need to step up. Yesterday, Showalter opted to go with Ottavino because Edwin Diaz is exclusively a closer, Drew Smith had pitched two innings on Tuesday, they prefer not to use Seth Lugo on consecutive days, and lefties Chasen Shreve and Joely Rodriguez weren’t really options against the right-handed Travis D’Arnaud with the bases loaded.
“They probably wouldn’t have asked if those guys were around,” Ottavino said. “But to be honest, I felt good. And I like to pitch a lot. I have good numbers the third day in a row, so I can’t use that as an excuse.”
In any case, the Mets’ relievers will now have to step up their game.