May Day (signaling distress)

Trevor May continued to
have control issues in
his second major league start.

Trevor May's second start was a good bit better than his first, which is not to say it was acceptable.

The rookie righty opened with four shutout innings, then imploded in a three-run fifth. For the outing, 4.2 innings, seven hits and four walks with just one strikeout.

Through two starts and one relief outing since his call-up (nine innings in toto), May has issued 13 bases on balls with just three strikeouts, an absolutely awful ratio.

Yes, it was his second straight start against a first-place team. But the Royals, unlike Oakland, are not an offensive juggernaut, and they are (in marked contrast to the Athletics) almost allergic to walks. If the A's were a bad matchup for May, the Royals were a good one. But May found a way to walk four of the 23 men he faced anyway.

None of which changes the equation. We may well be seeing why the Twins appeared reluctant to elevate May, but the fact remains that he has more upside than Yohan Pino, Kris Johnson and Logan Darnell, three lesser lights who got big-league opportunities before May did.

Pino and May are to start the day-night doubleheader on Saturday versus the Detroit Tigers. (Pino will be the "26th man" for the twin bill.) The expectation is that Pino will return to Triple A and May will stay. Which is as it should be.