New York Mets Need Trevor May, Mychal Givens to Be Big Bullpen Contributors
In this story:
At the Aug. 2 trade deadline this year, the Mets added one external arm to their bullpen when they acquired Mychal Givens from the Chicago Cubs.
However, Mets manager Buck Showalter said earlier this week that adding right-hander Trevor May back from the injured list on Aug. 3 acted as a mid-season acquisition as well.
Either way you slice it, adding Givens and activating May gives them two arms with a lot of potential to help the bullpen for the stretch run, and they will need them to.
Givens, 32, previously played under Showalter's watch with the Baltimore Orioles from 2015-18, which comprise some of the best years of his career.
"It’s been a great opportunity to play under him," Givens told Inside the Mets on Friday. "If we continue doing what we are doing as we should to make the playoffs, I’d be kind of excited to make the playoffs the two years of my career under his watch.
"As a rookie making it in 2016 and if we can make it this year, it would be pretty impressive to my career, being coached by a very smart manager, to get us to the playoffs."
Givens was having a strong year with the Chicago Cubs, to the tune of a 2.66 ERA, 3.83 FIP and 3.69 xFIP while being worth 0.3 fWAR.
The right-hander's first outing with the Mets the day after the trade was a disaster, as he allowed five runs in 2/3 of an inning.
You can likely give him a mulligan on that one, as he was acquired while the Cubs were on the West Coast and had to travel back east, then pitch all in a days time.
Since that outing, he has allowed just one earned run.
Showalter said that while Givens doesn't throw as hard as he once did, he said he has better control over his changeup and knows when to attack. The Mets manager said he also impresses defensively.
Mychal is a very athletic guy," Showalter said. "He was a shortstop for two or three years in the minor leagues over there (in Baltimore). Almost to a fault, he’ll go and get some balls sometimes that need a flex. He’ll also make some plays where you’re going to go, 'wow, you don’t expect a pitcher to make those.' He’s worked at attacking lefties.
When he first came up, with his arm angle and everything, the question I kept challenging him about: OK, what are you going to do to go to the next level to get left-handed hitters out? He’s now a guy that allows us to pass around the high leverage situations."
As for May, the Mets brought him aboard during the 2020-21 offseason as one of the first moves in the Steve Cohen era.
A converted starter to reliever, May logged the second most innings in a season of his career since switching to the bullpen (62.2).
The 32-year-old went down early this season after trying to pitch through a stress reaction in his triceps, which ultimately cost him three months on the sidelines.
When a player isn't around for an extended amount of time, it's easy to forget about them, so with a guy like May, it really is like adding another deadline piece.
Trevor is a guy that is capable of taking it to a level you need to be at to play late," Showalter said this week. "(Getting him back) will hopefully be a real key for us."
In 2021, May was worth 0.5 fWAR out of the bullpen for the Mets, as he pitched to a 3.59 ERA, 3.74 FIP and 3.81 xFIP.
Showalter is hoping to escalate him to pitching in back-to-back games soon, after meeting with pitching coach, Jeremy Hefner.
"(May) is another arm to pass the load around, so to speak," Showalter said. "I think we got one guy in the top 50 appearances and just continually trying to not overload one guy, so that we can keep them healthy, and make them more productive pitchers.
"It was the idea behind Mychal. Another guy that’s capable of pitching with a lead or the game close. Just keep moving it around."
Both May and Givens have put together strong seasons in their respective careers. As the Mets look to push towards their first playoff appearance since 2016, they will need both to be big contributors.
Read More:
- Tyler Naquin Talks Playing Former Team, Joining Mets
- Starling Marte Producing at High Clip For New York Mets
- Adam Ottavino Becoming Integral Part of Mets Bullpen
Follow Rob Piersall on Twitter (@rtpiersall), be sure to bookmark Inside The Mets and check back daily for news, analysis and more.
