3 relievers who could replace injured Trevor May for the long haul

The New York Mets just lost one of their most important relievers in Trevor May after he suffered a stress reaction in his humerus. The injury will keep him from throwing for 8-12 weeks and I'd be shocked if he was back pitching before the all-star break.

This is a big blow to a Mets bullpen that has had its ups and downs. Despite his slow start, May was still one of the more important relievers the Mets had as he was a valuable late inning arm.

Even with May healthy, the Mets should have been looking at the reliever market this trade deadline. Now with this injury, they might have to get two relievers.

Fortunately, the Mets have three relievers with fairly high upside who can fill some sort of role in the bullpen until May can come back.

1. Mets reliever Yoan Lopez

Yoan Lopez has made quite the first impression on Mets fans. He has made two appearances and each one had entertainment. In his first outing, he threw a pitch up and inside against Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals which led to a benches clearing brawl. Lopez was fined, but not suspended for that.

In his other appearance with the Mets, Lopez threw inside twice against Phillies outfielder Kyle Schwarber and hit third baseman Alec Bohm with a change-up as well. Lopez was suspended for three games for what MLB deemed was purposely throwing inside against Schwarber.

Lopez deserves a lot of praise for sticking up for his players, and certainly has won the players and fans respect. Even without that, I think there're some encouraging signs with Lopez as a major league caliber reliever.

In his first full season in the majors, Lopez appeared in 70 games for the Diamondbacks in 2019 and posted a 3.41 ERA in 60.1 innings pitched. He pitched pretty well for a team that won 85 games in 2019 in a large sample.

Unfortunately things haven't been so good for Lopez at the major league level since, but there's always the hope he can re-gain that form. Do I expect it? No, but he showed pretty decent stuff and should be fine in a mop-up role.

2. Mets reliever Adonis Medina

When May was placed on the injured list Adonis Medina was the player they called up. I believe Lopez would've been the choice if he wasn't suspended for those three games, but Medina deserved another look as well.

That is because in his one appearance as a Met he struck out the side against the Diamondbacks in his one inning of work.

Medina has had cups of coffee in each of his three seasons, starting one game for the Phillies in 2020, appearing in four games (one start) in 2021, and then the relief outing with the Mets a couple of weeks ago.

Medina has pitched in three games including one start for AAA Syracuse and has allowed two runs in those innings while striking out six. In his Minor League career Medina has posted a respectable 8.1 K/9 and has walked three batters per nine. What jumps off the page at me is the 0.8 HR/9. Medina has gotten 58.8% of his outs on the ground which could make him an effective pitcher at the big league level.

Medina at one point was a highly touted prospect in the Phillies system, ending up as high as third in their system but is no longer on prospect lists.

The 25 year old is likely nothing special, but he looked impressive in his only appearance as a Met and again won't be used very much in games that are competitive.