Trevor

May

This is a bummer, but the 34-year-old May has long made it clear that he has interests outside of the game. A closer for the first time in his career, May racked up 21 saves for the A’s this year, having amassed a 1.99 ERA over 41 appearances after returning from the IL in May. He went unscored upon in his final 15 appearances as a major leaguer, and one imagines he would have done at least as well or a little better as a free agent than he did in landing a $7 million deal last winter. He finishes his career 36-28 with a 4.24 ERA in 26 starts and 332 relief appearances over nine seasons.

May has been gone from Minnesota for three seasons now, but this is just the second time he’s faced the Twins. The save was his 21st of the season. With a 3.35 ERA on the season and a 2.16 ERA mark over the last three months, he should enter free agency in line for another deal much like the one he got from the A’s last winter (one year, $7 million).

May’s peripherals aren’t terrific, but since returning from an IL stint due to anxiety in May, he has a sterling 2.11 ERA in 38 1/3 innings. He’s given up runs in just one of his last 21 appearances, though he did allow five runs — three earned — in that one. He’s now at 20 saves for the year, something no one could have seen coming five or even three months ago.

The 33-year-old hurler did allow a two-out single to Mitch Garver, but battled back to get Jonah Heim on line out to right field to end it. After a brutal start to the season, May has actually settled in and pitched pretty well for the A’s, bringing some stability to the back end of what has been a historically bad bullpen. He now holds a 3.83 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and a 33/28 K/BB ratio over 40 1/3 innings on the year.

May was summoned to guard a three-run lead in the final frame and immediately surrendered a leadoff single to Santiago Espinal. He settled down quickly afterwards, coaxing a pivotal double-play ball off the bat of rookie Spencer Horwitz before getting Daulton Varsho to pop up to end the contest.

May issued a leadoff walk to Michael Stefanic and also handed out an intentional walk to Shohei Ohtani with two outs in the frame before getting Brandon Drury to fly out to end the contest. He’s converted 16 of his 19 save opportunities this season to go along with a solid 4.03 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and 32/28 K/BB ratio across 38 innings (40 appearances).

May was called upon to guard a two-run lead in the final frame and wound up surrendering back-to-back two-out hits before striking out Eugenio Suárez with the tying runs in scoring position to end the contest. He’ll continue handling the majority of the save chances for Oakland over the final month of the regular season.

May was called to protect a three-run lead in Thursday’s final frame. He allowed one hit but got the final three outs as the Athletics won only their 37th game of the season. While he might not get too many save chances, he is clearly the closer for Oakland and should be rostered in most leagues at this point.

May made it look awfully easy in this one, getting Kyle Isbel to pop out to second base, Maikel Garcia on a called third strike and Bobby Witt Jr. on a pop out to shortstop to end it. All told, he needed just 14 pitches (eight strikes) to notch his 13th save of the season. He now holds a 4.37 ERA, 1.51 WHIP and a 29/26 K/BB ratio over 35 innings on the season.

May was credited with a win after teammate Brent Rooker walloped a two-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning. The 33-year-old veteran right-hander has capably filled the void at the back-end of Oakland’s bullpen this season, converting a career-high 12 saves to accompany a 4.50 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 28/26 K/BB ratio across 34 innings (36 appearances).