May was picked ahead at the trade deadline James Tibbs And Zach Ehrhard. After struggling through 19 appearances for LA, he battled injuries and poor performance with the Red Sox. May set career highs in innings (132 1/3) and games (25) last season, but posted an ugly 4.96 ERA with an xFIP and SIERA in the mid-4.00s.
St. Louis was in dire need of rotation depth after the trade Son Gray to Boston and watch Miles Mikolas click on free agency. The club also lost swingman Steven Matzwho signed with Tampa Bay. The Cardinals are considering a conversion Kyle Leahy into a starter to build out the rotation.
The Dodgers spent a third-round pick in May 2016. He emerged as one of the best pitchers in a system typically filled with elite weapons. May made his MLB debut in 2019, working largely out of the bullpen. He spent most of the shortened 2020 campaign in the rotation, making 10 starts. It would be the only time he would get a double-digit start until last season. Due to injuries, May was only able to play 20 games between 2021 and 2023. He missed all of 2024 due to flexor tendon surgery.
May stayed healthy for the first time in 2025, playing 19 games for the Dodgers. He stumbled to a 4.85 ERA over 104 innings. Despite the performance, May still gave LA an intriguing prospect in Tibbs, a first-round pick in 2024. The veteran righty made just six appearances with the Red Sox before a right elbow neuritis cut his season short.
The Cardinals are betting May will combine the flashes of solid production he showed in previous seasons with the improved health of 2025. The 28-year-old posted a sub-3.00 ERA in 2020, 2022 and 2023, albeit in abbreviated campaigns. Although the elbow problem bothered him in September, he still destroyed his previous career records for workload. May had totaled 101 innings in four seasons before posting 132 1/3 frames last year. It was the first time in his six-year career that May showed he could stay on the mound for an extended period of time.
May has a mind-boggling pitching profile. He has a GIF-worthy arsenal headlined by a high-spin sweeper and a fastball in the mid-to-high 90s. Oddly enough, the repertoire has not yielded any whiffs or strikeouts for much of his career. May posted a 37.6% strikeout rate through five games in 2021, but he has been an average strikeout pitcher at best in every other season. Last year he posted an average score of 21.1% between LA and Boston. May has a modest career swinging strike rate of 8.8%. None of his five pitches have a noticeable whiff percentage.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post was report first the contract had a term of one year. Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com was notice first the deal included a club option for 2027.
Photo courtesy of Paul Rutherford, Imagn Images
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