Former Phillies pitching prospect Trevor May signs with Mets

The Mets have signed former Phillies pitching prospect Trevor May.

Less than two weeks after signing former Philadelphia Phillies pitching prospect Sam McWilliams, who was dealt to acquire Jeremy Hellickson, the New York Mets made a similar move on Tuesday.

According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Phillies’ division rivals inked one of their former top pitching prospects — right-hander Trevor May — to a two-year contract, pending a physical.

The Phillies drafted May, now 31, in the fourth round of the 2008 draft out of high school. Through five seasons in the organization’s farm system, reaching as high as the Double-A level, May became known as a strikeout pitcher. In 2012, in particular, with the Reading Phillies, he struck out 151 batters in 149 2/3 innings.

That offseason, the Phillies dealt the Washington native, along with fellow right-handed pitcher and fan-favorite Vance Worley, to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for speedy outfielder Ben Revere. May would go on to make his big-league debut opposite the Oakland Athletics in August 2014, receiving a losing decision after yielding four runs, seven walks, and three hits through just a pair of innings.

Overall in his career, with all 215 appearances, 26 starts, and 42 games finished with the Twins, May has gone 23-21 with a 4.44 ERA, 367-103 strikeouts-to-walks ratio, and 1.304 WHIP spanning 316 innings. Combined over the past three seasons, he has posted a 3.19 ERA, 1.080 WHIP, and 153 SO/BB ratio across 113 innings.

“Signing May is a strong upside play for the Mets,” writes the New York Post’s Joel Sherman. “His stuff has refined/gotten better the last few years. One worry spot is that May has been [home run] susceptible (1.33 per 9 innings over [the] last two yers). But, [he has a] powerful arsenal/strikeout stuff, [and is] good vs. right-handers/left-handers.”

In signing with the Mets, May joins a bullpen that features fellow right-handers Jacob Barnes, Dellin Betances, Brad Brach, Edwin Diaz, and Jeurys Familia.

The Mets’ signing of May marks the first big addition under new owner Steve Cohen. The Mets have already added a pair of former players from the Phillies organization; free-agent catcher J.T. Realmuto could potentially be the third.