Article: Trevor May To Start On Saturday

[DaveW]

BTW, where is Spirit of Vodka Dave?  He has been talking for 6 weeks that it was a done deal, with inside source that Meyer would be up as soon as the calender turned to 8/1.  Saturday will be Meyer's 2nd start in August at AAA.

Meyer didn't pitch himself into the rotation yet and Nick did a good job illustrating. It was his for the taking after the deadline (keeping Correia didn't help either). 

[tobi0040]

Just a refresher on his stuff. I found a FB in the 93-94 range with heavy sink.  A hammer curve and a straight change.

 

From MLB:

 

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 60 | Curve: 50 | Slider: 45 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 45 | Overall: 50

The Twins loved May's arm strength when they got him from the Phillies in the Ben Revere deal. They're hopeful a strong Arizona Fall League showing can help him reach a ceiling that has previously been elusive.

 

May has always been more of a thrower than a pitcher, but the raw stuff is still there. He has an above-average fastball, and while he can't command his breaking stuff, he does get swings and misses on it when ahead in the count. May's changeup looked better than it ever has in Arizona. Add in improved mound presence, and the AFL version of May looked like the starter everyone has envisioned.

The Twins don't have a ton of starting pitching in the upper levels, so they're going to try to hold onto May for as long as they can, knowing he has the power arsenal to succeed in the bullpen if necessary.

[DaveW]

Very excited to see May get the call! However we should all probably temper our expectations a bit, even if he does struggle it is a good thing to get him the innings for the 2015 on forward.

[Craig Arko]

Very excited to see May get the call! However we should all probably temper our expectations a bit, even if he does struggle it is a good thing to get him the innings for the 2015 on forward.

 

Yeah, I'd view it like Gibson last year. Setting up for 2015. I wonder if Pino is optioned later today?

[Kwak]

"He was Philadelphia's 4th Round Draft Pick in 2008... ."  What? There is major league talent past the second Round?  That's not what we have been hearing for years.  Well, Good Luck Trevor!  The Twins sure need help.

[DaveW]

Yeah, I'd view it like Gibson last year. Setting up for 2015. I wonder if Pino is optioned later today?

I don't think Pino deserves to get optioned, he has been pitching pretty solid overall in the rotation and IMHO deserves to hold down a back of the rotation spot until he deserves to lose it. Hopefully he can keep up a 4.00-4.30 ERA the rest of the way this year that allows the Twins to have another solid option for 2015 if they need.

 

I'd much rather they toss Correia on waivers and get rid of him for a PTBNL even if they have to toss in some cash. I know Pino is a bit of a lightning rod around here, but it would be prudent for the Twins to figure out if he could stick as a cheap #5 for a couple years.

[jokin]

 

Mike Berardino ‏@MikeBerardino  54s

#mntwins have now confirmed that Trevor May will start Saturday in Oakland. Will wear No. 65.

Nearly 2.5 hours later, the (excellent) Twins beat guy confirms:  Well done, Seth.

[jokin]

Meyer didn't pitch himself into the rotation yet and Nick did a good job illustrating. It was his for the taking after the deadline (keeping Correia didn't help either). 

 

His for the taking? Meyer has clearly outpitched May since the deadline.

[DaveW]

His for the taking? Meyer has clearly outpitched May since the deadline.

Pitch limits etc 

[tobi0040]

Meyer didn't pitch himself into the rotation yet and Nick did a good job illustrating. It was his for the taking after the deadline (keeping Correia didn't help either). 

 

Here are Meyers numbers in his last 15 starts:

 

76.2 IP, 2.47 ERA, 86 K's. 6.6 H per 9.  4.5 BB per 9. 

 

When will this madness stop about he hasn't pitched well enough or pitched his way out of contention? 

 

Pitch counts?  If the Twins have access to a calculator they could have figured out how many pitches he would have thrown by 8/1.

 

If the Twins had an agreement that he was coming up 8/1, he would be up.

[spanman2]

2015 POSSIBLE rotation in no particular order:

Hughes/Gibson/Milone/May/Meyer---i would roll with it and see how it goes!!!  Not saying it is guranteed to be succesful but it would be my starting 5. Let the kids get the experience including Gibson with this being his 1st full year in the bigs. You have 4 under team control (pre-arb) for years to come.  Assuming that it will be 2016 until BOTH Sano/Buxton are up it gives the kids valuable experience.  Quite frankly I would be all in with Sano/Buxton/Vargas next year too.  Let em get up take their lumps if thats what is meant to be it will be.  If these kids are to be the future let em play!!!  Go Twins...I forgot about RICKY boy..as another member pointed out!!! MY BAD..just got excited about the call up

[gunnarthor]

His for the taking? Meyer has clearly outpitched May since the deadline.

Not really sure if that is true.  I mean, he's walked 8 batters in his last 10 innings.  Sure, his one start after the break wasn't as bad as the one before it but May has certainly shown much better control - both recently and all year.

[jokin]

Not really sure if that is true.  I mean, he's walked 8 batters in his last 10 innings.  Sure, his one start after the break wasn't as bad as the one before it but May has certainly shown much better control - both recently and all year.

 

Nope.  I'm metaphysically certain that Meyer has outpitched May since the deadline, which was Dave's qualifier, that Meyer had failed to grab the opportunity to get this start.

 

Meyer:  ERA/FIP 3.18/2.13 IP 5.2 H 2 ER 2 K 8 BB 3 K/9 12.71 K% 36.4% WHIP 0.88 AVG .105

 

May:    ERA/FIP 6.00/4.70 IP 6 ER 4 K 2 BB 4 K/9 6.00 K% 7.1 % WHIP 2.00 AVG .333

[tobi0040]

Not really sure if that is true.  I mean, he's walked 8 batters in his last 10 innings.  Sure, his one start after the break wasn't as bad as the one before it but May has certainly shown much better control - both recently and all year.

 

Last 15 starts:

 

Meyer 76.2 IP, 2.47 ERA, 86 K's. 6.6 H per 9.  4.5 BB per 9. 10.2 K per 9.

 

May  86 IP, 2.72 ERA, 79 K's, 7 H per 9, 3.66 BB per 9.  8.27 K per 9.

 

One metric favors May, by a total fo 7 BB's (in more innings).  ERA, K's, and hits favor Meyer. All in WHIP is basically a wash, May 1.18 versus Meyer 1.23.  

 

So I don't buy they decided in Meyer and switched to May based on performance.

 

Just like the Pino arguments that were made....it is silly to look at one year and throw out their entire MILB numbers:

 

Meyer   2.96 ERA, 7.1 H per 9, 10.3 K per 9, 3.7 BB per 9

Pino   3.77 ERA, 8.6 H per 9,  8.1 K per 9, 2.2 BB per 9

May   3.92 ERA, 7.7 H per 9, 4.4 BB per 9, 10.5 K per 9

Edited August 8, 2014 by tobi0040

[Squirrel]

Guys ... the news about MAY is good news!  Let's not disintegrate this thread by making it about Meyer not being here.  May is here, maybe Meyer will get a shot next, but we got one of them up now and for now I'm good with that through Saturday.

 

Edit:  This was an 'official' moderator's note, btw.

[gunnarthor]

Nope.  I'm metaphysically certain that Meyer has outpitched May since the deadline, which was Dave's qualifier, that Meyer had failed to grab the opportunity to get this start.

 

Meyer:  ERA/FIP 3.18/2.13 IP 5.2 H 2 ER 2 K 8 BB 3 K/9 12.71 K% 36.4% WHIP 0.88 AVG .105

 

May:    ERA/FIP 6.00/4.70 IP 6 ER 4 K 2 BB 4 K/9 6.00 K% 7.1 % WHIP 2.00 AVG .333

Yeah, but no one is dumb enough to base results on one start.  And you should include BB%

[DaveW]

Yeah, but no one is dumb enough to base results on one start.  And you should include BB%

Yeah the BB% is an issue, especially when you are on a very very strict pitch count. Having a guy in your rotation who will struggle to make it over 5 or so IP each time out is bad news for your team/bullpen. Sorta reminds me of Joba's issues when he came up as a starter for the Yankees, electric stuff but was at 100 pitches in the 5th/6th way too often. Not saying Meyer will have that issue, but it is worth noting, while we are all very anxious for him to get here, the guy has top of the rotation type potential, so if the wait is a little longer I can live with that.

 

Anyways, I stand by what I said, the plan that was conveyed to me back in May/June was that he would be up right after the deadline, I guess just like everything else in life some things change. I'm not sure this whole thread needs to be hijacked.

[drunksam]

ATBAT just told me May is coming in August.  Awesome. 

[DaveW]

2015 POSSIBLE rotation in no particular order:

Hughes/Gibson/Milone/May/Meyer---i would roll with it and see how it goes!!!  Not saying it is guranteed to be succesful but it would be my starting 5. Let the kids get the experience including Gibson with this being his 1st full year in the bigs. You have 4 under team control (pre-arb) for years to come.  Assuming that it will be 2016 until BOTH Sano/Buxton are up it gives the kids valuable experience.  Quite frankly I would be all in with Sano/Buxton/Vargas next year too.  Let em get up take their lumps if thats what is meant to be it will be.  If these kids are to be the future let em play!!!  Go Twins...

 

Nolasco is a guy who you didn't include who I think has an excellent chance to rebound, now Nolasco will never be mistaken for an ACE, but when healthy I think he has proven to be a reliable middle of the rotation guy. Toss in a guy like Pino who has pitched like a solid #5 so far and you suddenly have 7 realistic SP options heading into the 2015 season. 8 if you include a possible bounce back from Pelfrey, and that doesn't even include a guy like Berrios.

[SirLoin]

Who's heading back to the Red Wings?  Pino?

[jokin]

Yeah, but no one is dumb enough to base results on one start.  And you should include BB%

 

 

Take that issue up with Dave, not me. And since you asked about the BB% from each of the M & M boys in their last start, here you go:

 

May BB% 14.3%  BB/9 6.00

Meyer BB% 13.6%  BB/9 4.76

 

Tobi's stats over the last 15 starts answer a broader, more  definitive question, but reach the same conclusion.  Most importantly, when it comes to BB%-BB/9, the ratio of strikeouts, ground balls and weakly hit balls must be properly taken into account.

Edited August 8, 2014 by jokin

[Craig Arko]

Who's heading back to the Red Wings?  Pino?

 

Apparently this won't be announced until after tonight's game. But if one guesses Milone comes up Tuesday it's a good bet.

[jokin]

Did you guys break this? Nice work.

 

 

Ouch!  Apparently getting scooped smarts a little bit, jovial jocularity maybe, but Seth did strike a Minnesota-type passive-aggressive nerve::

 

 

Mike Berardino ‏@MikeBerardino  18m

.@SethTweets and I are cool, but I know I guided #MNTwins fans quite responsibly (and accurately) w/story below.

[teekz]

Awesome news! Can't wait to watch May pitch!

[Squirrel]

Awesome news! Can't wait to watch May pitch!

Brian will have to have an extra-special 'Things to think about' for that night.

[spanman2]

Nolasco is a guy who you didn't include who I think has an excellent chance to rebound, now Nolasco will never be mistaken for an ACE, but when healthy I think he has proven to be a reliable middle of the rotation guy. Toss in a guy like Pino who has pitched like a solid #5 so far and you suddenly have 7 realistic SP options heading into the 2015 season. 8 if you include a possible bounce back from Pelfrey, and that doesn't even include a guy like Berrios.

My bad I brainfarted on him didnt I

[spanman2]

Nolasco is a guy who you didn't include who I think has an excellent chance to rebound, now Nolasco will never be mistaken for an ACE, but when healthy I think he has proven to be a reliable middle of the rotation guy. Toss in a guy like Pino who has pitched like a solid #5 so far and you suddenly have 7 realistic SP options heading into the 2015 season. 8 if you include a possible bounce back from Pelfrey, and that doesn't even include a guy like Berrios.

Yes I did forget about Ricky...my bad

[DaveW]

My bad I brainfarted on him didnt I

 

Kinda hard not to considering his results this year have been ugly and hasn't been in the rotation for some time. Ideally he gets healthy again and gives us yet another arm we can hopefully count on.

I mentioned it before, but with those 7: Hughes, Gibson, Meyer, May, Milone, Nolasco, Pino, (Wild card on Pelfrey as #8) the good news is the Twins shouldn't have to dip into free agency to fill in the rotation, however I would like to see them potentially look at one of the "ace types" on the market, but there is no need to spend money on middle of the rotation types, and zero reason whatsover to get back end types.

 

That frees up the money/time/resources to fill in some of the other holes next year (corner OF bat, SS?) etc

[jay]

One less non-promotion for people to b*tch about.

 

Great news.

 

Ah, but see what happened there?  We can just use this to further b!tch about other ones...

 

Congrats, Trevor!

[bird]

Nope.  I'm metaphysically certain that Meyer has outpitched May since the deadline, which was Dave's qualifier, that Meyer had failed to grab the opportunity to get this start.

 

Meyer:  ERA/FIP 3.18/2.13 IP 5.2 H 2 ER 2 K 8 BB 3 K/9 12.71 K% 36.4% WHIP 0.88 AVG .105

 

May:    ERA/FIP 6.00/4.70 IP 6 ER 4 K 2 BB 4 K/9 6.00 K% 7.1 % WHIP 2.00 AVG .333

 

There's more to pitching well than a handful of stats. In the minds of the staff who watches him every day, Meyer most likely hasn't pitched as well as his statistics. But if you have to hang your hat on numbers and are honestly trying to figure out why he hasn't been promoted, perhaps his pitch counts are telling.