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After winning three straight games against the New York Yankees, the Tampa Bay Rays traveled to St. Minneapolis to play the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on Friday night. A victory against the Twins (combined with the Yankees 12-1 blowout loss against the Kansas City Royals) would have given the Rays a share of the division lead in the American League East.
With a 2-1 advantage after six innings, the Rays appeared to be en route to the victory. But then, with nearly 100 pitches under his belt, Kevin Cash let Jake Odorizzi pitch the seventh inning.
After giving up a leadoff single to Aaron Hicks, Danny Santana tripled off Odorizzi to tie the game. Odorizzi was yanked two batters too late as Brian Dozier drove in Santana with a sacrifice fly to put the Twins up for good.
Today's first pitch is at 2:10 EDT as the Rays and Twins will try to squeeze in a mid-afternoon game before summer showers hit the Twin Cities. The Rays will send Álex Colomé to the mound to face off against Trevor May.
The Lineups
Rays:
Another day, another chance to move into first-place tie. #Rays at @Twins today on @SunSportsRays, @620wdae, @MLBTV. pic.twitter.com/TqNvdaD83m
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 16, 2015
Twins:
.@Trevmay54 is on the mound for the #MNTwins vs. the Rays today at Target Field. http://t.co/XjtIENSpPL pic.twitter.com/Acv8zXioEQ
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 16, 2015
The Book on Trevor May
At the conclusion of the 2011 season, the Philadelphia Phillies had won four straight National League East division titles and the roster was chalk full of primetime superstars. Ryan Howard was still capable of hitting a baseball and the starting rotation, one of the best in the history of the game, was led by Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels.
As is often the case when a big league roster is filled with veteran superstars, the farm system was particularly barren. Prior to the 2012 season, Baseball America ranked the Phillies' farm system as the fourth worst in all of baseball and of the ten players that landed on the organizational top prospect list, only four of them have managed to crack the big leagues. Those four players have accumulated a combined career WAR of just 0.9.
So, when Baseball America slated Trevor May as the Phillies' top prospect entering 2012, while indeed an honor, it wasn't exactly saying a whole lot. Despite an above average 2011 season, the 2008 fourth round draft pick did little to warrant his top billing in the 2012 campaign. After posting a 4.88 FIP with the Reading Phillies in Double-A, May found himself shipped to the Minnesota Twins in December with Vance Worley in exchange for slap-hitting outfielder Ben Revere.
May made his Major League debut (Editor's note: look at that alliteration!) in August of 2014, posting a 4.77 FIP in nine starts. He was not scheduled to begin the 2015 season in the big leagues but an arm injury to Ricky Nolasco in early April opened up a roster spot and May was tapped to fill the void as the fifth starter.
In six starts this season, May has posted a much improved 3.22 FIP. May has featured good control, only walking 2.4 batters per nine innings. He has only surrendered two home runs this season, as his two seam fastball, slider, and curveball have generated a high number of ground balls.
Trevor May's 2015 Arsenal
In 2015, May's arsenal has consisted of a 92 mph fastball (thrown 66.8% of the time), a 76 mph curveball (13.8%), an 84 mph changeup (15.1%), and an 84 mph slider (4.3%). May has thrown his two team fastball nearly five times more frequently than he did last season (23.7% to 5.4%).