Mets reliever Trevor May shut down for four weeks due to stress reaction in humerus of throwing arm

Mets reliever Trevor May has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in the humerus of his throwing arm, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. He’ll be shut down from throwing for at least a month.

New York placed the righty on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with what was initially termed triceps inflammation. Wednesday’s diagnosis comes with an unfortunate timetable that’ll keep him out of action for a while. Even if he begins a throwing program around early June, he’ll need some time to build up arm strength before embarking upon a minor-league rehab assignment. It wouldn’t be all that surprising if May isn’t ready for MLB action again until after the All-Star break. It seems likely he’ll wind up on the 60-day injured list whenever the team needs to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

May signed a two-year, $15.5M deal with New York over the 2020-21 offseason. That was a surprisingly affordable price given his excellent three-run with the Twins between 2018-20. May was an effective and durable middle innings option for former skipper Luis Rojas during his first year in Queens. Over 62 2/3 innings, he posted a 3.59 ERA with a very strong 31.2% strikeout rate.

The early results in 2022 haven’t been good, as May has been tagged for eight runs in 8 1/3 innings. He only has five punchouts, and his swinging strike rate has plummeted from 15.3% last season to just 8.4% this year. May’s fastball and slider velocity haven’t changed much, but he’s seen marked dips in the raw spin on both offerings. That has corresponded to a little less depth on his breaking ball, although May’s heater has been the primary culprit for his early poor results.

Presumably, the injury has played a key role in the drop in May’s arsenal and performance. He conceded on Monday (via Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News) that he’d been pitching through arm discomfort since first suffering a triceps injury on April 11. The Mets are surely hopeful he’ll be back to vintage form after an extended rest period to again serve as an important high-leverage option late in the year.