Lucas

May

May, 27, hit .238 with 10 homers and and 44 RBIs last season between the Triple-A affiliates of the Diamondbacks and Royals. He’ll provide organizational depth.

May, 28, batted .215/.245/.348 in 75 games with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate the past season. He’ll represent organizational depth.

He was not given an invite to spring training. May batted just .226/.277/.301 with three homers last year at Triple-A with the Pirates.

This after he doubled three times on Sunday. May is hitting .364/.395/.697 in 33 at-bats. The converted third baseman is in just his second full season as a catcher, but he has the tools to be a fine defender in time. He’s potential trade bait for a Dodgers team that hopes to have Russell Martin behind the plate for a long time.

Maybe the Dodgers shouldn’t trade Russell Martin just yet. May has displayed glimpses of offensive potential, but after a hot start, he ended up hitting .230/.294/.403 at Double-A Jacksonville this year. With Carlos Santana gone to Cleveland in the Casey Blake deal, the Dodgers are short on catching help in the minors.

The D’Backs are a little thin on depth at Triple-A Reno after trading John Hester to the Orioles, so May will help out in that regard. He’s hitting just .176/.263/.329 with three homers at Triple-A Omaha this season. Pizziconi, a 19-year-old signed last year out of Italy, has yet to pitch this season.

May looks pretty good right now - he currently has a .302/.354/.504 line in Triple-A - but there are warts. Once you adjust for the run environment in the Pacific Coast League (a known hitters’ league), and take out some batted ball luck, the line looks a lot worse. This is also the first year that May has shown the ability to walk at an above-average rate. Lastly, he’s old (25) and despite a slugging percentage north of .468 the last two years, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus once again chimed in and said he does not have “great power.” Some have even suggested he will be a backup catcher eventually.

“They had to repair three of the four muscles,” said Royals manager Ned Yost. “Two of them were torn completely off the bone, the other one was torn to the point where they had to repair it. He got through it OK, the doctor felt good about it and it’s month-to-month now, not day-to-day.” Kendall could miss anywhere from 8-12 months as a result of surgery. There’s a chance he’ll contribute next season, but his absence will be a golden opportunity for both Brayan Pena and Lucas May.

Manager Ned Yost previously described Kendall’s recovery as “month-to-month” but expressed hope that he could be ready for opening day. But, doctors gave him an 8-12 months timetable following the early September surgery, so May might even be an optimistic projection. Brayan Pena and Lucas May could wind up being the Royals’ catchers for most of the 2011 season, though it’s possible the team could bring in a veteran if Kendall’s recovery stalls.

Converted infielder Lucas May and highly touted prospect Salvador Perez also are bidding for time behind the plate. Manager Ned Yost wants a defensive-minded catcher, and Pena still has room to improve in this area. But he lost 10 pounds during the offseason and plans to lose another five to eight, following through on a promise he made last September. After hitting .253/.306/.335 in 174 plate appearances in 2010, Pena might have an opportunity to build on those numbers in 2011.