What is going on with the Twins and Trevor May?

[jimbo92107]

Trevor May's predicament may have more to do with his perceived versatility than anything else. In the starting rotation he began a little rough, but then quickly improved. Sent to the bull pen, he struggled a bit, but look at him now, he's nailing the corners at 96 or better, with a nasty slider...a little like we wish Glenn Perkins was still doing.

 

Question is, where do you put a guy that's so versatile? You put him where the greatest need is, as a late inning reliever. Or as the guy that gives Perkins some time off. Last couple times out, May was throwing the ball just like a good closer. If Perk is nursing a muscle pull or something else, if anybody's going to step up to fill that role, it will be Trevor May. The guy is such a good athlete, he seems to adapt to whatever role they ask him to fill. What other single pitcher could do that right now? This guy really impresses me.

[Bark's Lounge]

Sorry if I am repeating something someone said, but for now, May is the right one for the bullpen gig - as long as they use him in high leverage situations. I enjoyed him for the most part as a starter and I still believe that is where his future lies.

 

This ball club is hanging on by a thread, and I certainly do not see May being the savior, but he can be of great help. We need more help. It is time for Berrios to become a part of the back end of our bullpen. We need swings and misses and if it doesn't work out, at least we tried to put the right people in those positions to get the desired end outcome.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Maybe it's just me but if you're going to call up Berrios, it makes more sense to put him in the rotation and keep May in the pen. Berrios hasn't pitched a relief inning in roughly three years and the Twins spent a month letting Trevor adjust to a bullpen role.

 

I don't agree with any of the decisions made up to this point but there's no need to continue shuffling guys out of place and further escalate the issue. Make the best of the bad situation and let guys stay in the roles they've had for the past month.

[Bark's Lounge]

 

Maybe it's just me but if you're going to call up Berrios, it makes more sense to put him in the rotation and keep May in the pen. Berrios hasn't pitched a relief inning in roughly three years and the Twins spent a month letting Trevor adjust to a bullpen role.

 

I don't agree with any of the decisions made up to this point but there's no need to continue shuffling guys out of place and further escalate the issue. Make the best of the bad situation and let guys stay in the roles they've had for the past month.

Ideally, that is what should happen. In a perfect world you want to leave Berrios alone and let him do his deal, which is starting. Unfortunately, from my perspective, the Twins have no more answers/band aids to put on the wound that is our bullpen and oddly enough this club still has a chance.

 

Not that I know the definite answer to what I am about to say - I would imagine that the Twins have him on a pitch count this season and this might be good way to wind down his season and get him some big league exposure.

 

If Berrios was a prima donna or a high maintenance player, I would not consider it, but from all reports I have read or heard, it sounds like he is an over the top worker and for lack of a better term a baseball soldier.

 

In my opinion, because of Berrios' makeup, I do not think this would set him back, I think he would embrace the challenge and still be on track to help us out in the rotation in 2016.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I'm not worried about setting Jose back, I'm more concerned with the fact there are only 8-9 more weeks left in the season and it will take at least two weeks to get Berrios up to speed in the bullpen. That's 25% of the remaining time in the season.

 

Like you said, Berrios seems like a real pro. I'm not worried about upsetting a delicate flower or prima donna in Jose, I'm worried about the time required to get him on the field and productive if changes are made.

[Mike Sixel]

40 innings a year, of which maybe half are really high leverage, or 180 innings a year......is this really a debate?

[drjim]

 

40 innings a year, of which maybe half are really high leverage, or 180 innings a year......is this really a debate?

 

If May is a 2 or 3 as a starter, there is no debate. If he struggles to turn over a lineup a third time, there is a debate, especially if May becomes a dominant reliever. I generally take the position you keep a guy at the tougher job until you have to move him, so I certainly expect May to be back in the rotation by no later than the offseason, maybe earlier if the Twins really collapse down the stretch.

 

Either way, it's also a better debate with accurate numbers. Are you assuming he misses 40% of the year as a reliever but is fully healthy as a starter?

 

 

[Mike Sixel]

Not sure what your last sentence means. An 8th inning guy gets 40-80 innings a year, if that. 40 was probably on the low end.

 

There is no reason to assume he won't be healthy. A good SP >>>>>>>>> a good 8th inning guy. Or should every team move their 2nd best starter to the bullpen?

[DaveW]

I like may, but he wasn't the Twins 2nd best starter at the time they moved him to the pen.

[nicksaviking]

 

Trevor May's predicament may have more to do with his perceived versatility than anything else. In the starting rotation he began a little rough, but then quickly improved. Sent to the bull pen, he struggled a bit, but look at him now, he's nailing the corners at 96 or better, with a nasty slider...a little like we wish Glenn Perkins was still doing.

 

Question is, where do you put a guy that's so versatile? You put him where the greatest need is, as a late inning reliever. Or as the guy that gives Perkins some time off. Last couple times out, May was throwing the ball just like a good closer. If Perk is nursing a muscle pull or something else, if anybody's going to step up to fill that role, it will be Trevor May. The guy is such a good athlete, he seems to adapt to whatever role they ask him to fill. What other single pitcher could do that right now? This guy really impresses me.

 

Seems to me Johan Santana was pretty versatile but I doubt there would have been any talks about putting him back in the pen.  This versatility thing really is just another way of saying that he has good velocity and a good repertoir pitches.  These are the pitchers you want pitching the most innings. 

[Bark's Lounge]

 

I'm not worried about setting Jose back, I'm more concerned with the fact there are only 8-9 more weeks left in the season and it will take at least two weeks to get Berrios up to speed in the bullpen. That's 25% of the remaining time in the season.

 

Like you said, Berrios seems like a real pro. I'm not worried about upsetting a delicate flower or prima donna in Jose, I'm worried about the time required to get him on the field and productive if changes are made.

Well, unfortunately, I think you would have to throw him into fire immediately and hope like hell it pays off quickly. Maybe I didn't throw enough change into the wishing well for that to happen, but you never know. Other than that, I think the Twins are stuck with what they have and that is a bummer.

[DaveW]

I think Jose would have been up, but they really didn't want him facing the Blue Jays lineup in his first major league start. Which is very understandable IMO.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I think Jose would have been up, but they really didn't want him facing the Blue Jays lineup in his first major league start. Which is very understandable IMO.

Mr Duffey, your bus to Toronto has arrived on schedule.

 

Once you reach your destination at Rogers Centre, remove all luggage and exit the bus safely. Once you are clear of the bus, please wait for your assigned Twins personnel member to throw you under it.

[DaveW]

Mr Duffey, your bus to Toronto has arrived on schedule.

 

Once you reach your destination at Rogers Centre, remove all luggage and exit the bus safely. Once you are clear of the bus, please wait for your assigned Twins personnel member who will happily throw you under it.

weirder things have happened, but they are really setting up Duffey for a disaster. I would have preferred Graham get the spot start (or obviously May)

[drjim]

 

weirder things have happened, but they are really setting up Duffey for a disaster. I would have preferred Graham get the spot start (or obviously May)

 

That's life as a more marginal prospect. They protect the elite guys, let the others take the punishment.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I think Jose would have been up, but they really didn't want him facing the Blue Jays lineup in his first major league start. Which is very understandable IMO.

So they're going to drop someone from the 40-man on Thursday so they can add Berrios and option Duffey (and burn an option year on Duffey if he's not recalled before Sep. 1st)?  Just to have Berrios avoid the Blue Jays lineup?  Doesn't sound likely.

 

Duffey's next turn lines up with the Monday off day, so maybe they just want to skip him that turn.  Although with 8 relievers already, the benefit of having the 5th starter in the pen for a couple games is pretty small.  I think I'd rather just insert Berrios into the rotation and be done with it for a while.  There's no guarantee that we're going to want Milone to immediately return to the rotation later this month anyway.

[Mike Sixel]

Trevor May.....low leverage specialist. I would ask for a trade at this point.

[jimmer]

Looks like he's now been stretched out enough to be the 5th starter.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Duffy was sent back to Rochester.  Guessing May is back in the rotation.