And while there is no updated timeline for Polanco, who hasn’t played since April 14 due to wrist and Achilles injuries, Mendoza indicated that the Achilles bursitis is something that likely will not heal 100 percent this season, and that it comes down to how well the veteran can tolerate and play through it.
If Polanco doesn’t reach that point, it doesn’t sound like he’ll be playing any time soon.
“I think it’s getting to a point where—he’s going to feel it, right? But just keeping it to a point of ‘I can tolerate this’ because if not he’s going to get shut down for a long period of time,” Mendoza said. “So, I think we just continue to go through baseball activities, continue to push it running-wise, and see how he reacts to that.
"Hopefully, he can continue to get treatment and hopefully it goes away, but it's something that he's probably gonna have to manage."
Polanco, who signed a two-year deal with the Mets this offseason with the idea of him being the everyday first baseman, has played in just 14 games this season, hitting .179 with one home run.
The Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers meet for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Detroit won Game 6, 115-94, in Cleveland to tie up the series at 3-3. The Pistons win broke the Cavaliers' undefeated home record.
Detroit shot 52% from the field to Cleveland's 39% in Game 6, plus the Pistons were hot from deep with 44% of their triples made. Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 21 points, but it was about Jalen Duren and his impact after playing his best game of the series. Duren tied a playoff-high with 15 points and posted his fourth double-double with 11 rebounds, plus three blocks. Detroit won Game 7 at home versus Orlando, 116-94, in the first round.
Four out of five starters for Cleveland scored double-digits as James Harden led the pack with 23 points. Outside of those four, the rest of the team combined for 22 points on 7-of-24 from the field (29.1%) and 5-for-16 from three (31.2%). The Cavaliers will need more from their bench in Game 7. Cleveland won Game 7 at home versus Toronto in the first round, 114-102. The Cavaliers are 1-5 in playoff road games with their only win coming in OT at Detroit in Game 5.
Let’s take a closer look at tonight’s matchup and take into consideration lineups, injuries, and other factors affecting the line and total.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds courtesy of DraftKings recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to Watch Live: Cavaliers vs. Pistons
Date: Sunday, May 17, 2026
Time: 8:10 PM EST
Site: Little Caesars Arena
City: Detroit, MI
Network/Streaming: Amazon Prime Video
Rotoworld has you covered with all the latest NBA Player News for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Game Odds: Cavaliers vs. Pistons
The latest odds as of Sunday courtesy of DraftKings:
Moneyline: Detroit Pistons (-185), Cleveland Cavaliers (+154)
Spread: Pistons -4.5
Total: 205.5 points
This game opened Pistons -4.5 with the Total set at 206.5.
Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & player props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule!
Expected Starting Lineups: Cavaliers vs. Pistons
Cleveland Cavaliers
PG James Harden
SG Donovan Mitchell
SF Dean Wade
PF Evan Mobley
C Jarrett Allen
Detroit Pistons
PG Cade Cunningham
SG Duncan Robinson (questionable)
SF Ausar Thompson
PF Tobias Harris
C Jalen Duren
Injury Report: Pistons vs. Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers
None
Detroit Pistons
Kevin Huerter (hip) is listed as QUESTIONABLE for Game 7. Huerter missed Game 6 after playing three minutes in Game 5.
Duncan Robinson (back) is listed as QUESTIONABLE for Game 7. Robinson played 20 minutes and scored 14 points in Game 6.
Caris LeVert (heel) is listed as QUESTIONABLE for Game 6. LeVert played 29 minutes and scored 8 points in Game 6.
Important stats, trends and insights: Pistons vs. Magic
Detroit is 50-45 ATS on the season
Detroit is 25-22 ATS at home
Detroit is 50-44-1 to the Under
Detroit is 25-22 to the Under at home
Cleveland has the second worst ATS record at 39-56
Cleveland is 9-7 ATS as a road underdog and 7-9 on the ML
Cleveland is 9-7 to the Under as a home underdog
Cleveland is 48-47 to the Under on the season
Rotoworld Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NBA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Sunday’s Cavaliers and Pistons’ game:
Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Pistons’ Moneyline
Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Pistons -4.5 ATS
Total: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Game Total UNDER 205.5
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SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE: This is the 21st of the Cubs’ 59-regular season series against the White Sox in which the teams have split the first two games. The Cubs won a third game six times and lost it seven times. There was no third game seven times. The Cubs are 1-5 in third games after winning, then losing, including 1-4 on the road. The win was in the last such game, in 2020. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
DAY GAMES ON THE ROAD: The Cubs lost their first day game of the year on the road, by 4-1 at Cleveland on April 3. Two days later, in Game 1 of a doubleheader, they beat the Guardians, 1-0. Beginning with a 4-1 loss in Game 2, they have dropped five of six day games as the visiting team. The win was by 5-4 at San Diego on April 29. Their only such game since then was last Sunday, when they lost, 3-0, at Texas. They are 1-3 in all day games on the road on Sundays. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
THE BUSCH LEAGUE: Michael Busch extended his on-base streak to a career-high tying 17 games in which he is batting .286/.453/.464 (16-for-56) with five doubles, a triple, a home run, 17 walks and 13 RBI.
TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: Sean Marshall and three relievers combine on a one-hit shutout of the Nationals at Wrigley Field. The only Nats hit is a leadoff single by Alfonso Soriano in the sixth. The Cubs win the game 5-0. It happened 20 years ago today, Wednesday, May 17, 2006.
Colin Rea was going along pretty well and then the Braves torched him pretty good last Tuesday in Atlanta.
But, I’d say Rea does well enough for a fifth starter type. Eats innings, and most of the time gives you a decent outing.
Against the Sox almost exactly a year ago, May 18, 2025 at Wrigley Field, Rea held the Sox to one run in 5.1 innings. We’ll take another one like that today, please.
Erick Fedde… what year is this, 2024?
Fedde pitched for the Sox that year, then was shipped away to the Cardinals in a three-way deal that brought Miguel Vargas to the South Side. Since then he’s also pitched for the Braves and Brewers before he came back to the Sox as a free agent this past offseason.
He has pitched well enough for the Sox (3.77 ERA, 1.163 WHIP) in eight games (six starts) that, well, they could flip him again if they fall out of contention.
The Cubs hit him hard twice last year when he was with St. Louis — 10 earned runs in five innings. Dansby Swanson is 10-for-27 (.370) against Fedde with a double.
Please visit our SB Nation White Sox site South Side Sox. If you do go there to interact with Sox fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.
You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.
The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.
You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MAY 15: Justin Foscue #14 of the Texas Rangers breaks his bat as he hits a single in the eighth inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on May 15, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Texas Rangers lineup for May 17, 2026 against the Houston Astros: starting pitchers are Nathan Eovaldi for the Rangers and Peter Lambert for the Astros.
Texas will attempt to avoid a sweep. They will also attempt to get their average runs scored per game in this series to at least 1. Corey Seager is out again.
The lineup:
Carter — CF
Nimmo — RF
Jung — 3B
Pederson — DH
Duran — SS
Osuna — LF
Burger — 1B
Foscue — 2B
Higashioka — C
1:10 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -125 favorites.
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 27: Zuby Ejiofor #24 of the St. John's Red Storm looks on during the Sweet 16 of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament game against the Duke Blue Devils at Capital One Arena on March 27, 2026 in Washington, DC. Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
With the Draft Lottery and the Combine all happening last week, the question I posed this time was simple: who is your current draft crush? We may ask this one may times over the next few weeks. Keep in mind it doesn’t HAVE to be Dallas Mavericks related either.
Brent: Zuby Zuby Zuby! Just so I can say that when he checks in the way the Kaiser Chefs would. Gosh, I am old.
Zuby Ejiofor is my current pick. He’s a Garland native and tested with a massive 7’2” wingspan. He also seemed interested in the Mavericks and might be there at 30!
Bryan: Morez Johnson and Ebuka Okorie have taken over the hearts and minds of the people. Morez being Center height at 6’10.25” in shoes and Okorie having a 6’7.75” wingspan were pretty big combine developments for both players. I dream of a Mavericks team full of skilled athletes and defenders under 25!
Michael: I have gone on the roller coaster of everything from “who’s that?” to “I like him way more than I thought” to “don’t you dare start liking the guys under 6’4″” to “that’s THE guy – how do we trade up?” to “this guy wants to be here, I just know it” to “I really like this dude; but I’m going to hate him when he’s playing for the Clippers”… With that many destinations in my GPS, I decided to just go back home and wait a little longer!
To actually answer the question though, Wagler and Brown Jr. Wagler has been there for a while, but I suddenly (and possibly irrationally) feel like Brown is healthy – the one thing that concerned me – so now he’s jumped way up the list.
Ben: It’ll probably be Wagler for me up until the draft. I’m a little worried about his athleticism but he’s got NBA-ready moves with the ball. He feels like a slightly less explosive Shaun Livingston, and that’s a player I’m interested in.
Tyler: A guy who I found myself liking more and more over course of combine week was Cam Carr out of Baylor. He made obvious headlines when he recorded a seven-foot wingspan while standing just 6’4”, and then proceeded to test very well and dominate the scrimmages late in the week. Baylor was gross this year, but Carr went and showed he wasn’t held back by the situation.
Matt M.: The more and more I think about it, I really like both Lebaron Philon and Dailyn Swain. Philon delivered in big games and is a guy I trust with the ball in his hands. He creates. He can do that thing that god NBA guards do, get the defender on his hip and dictate the rest of the play from there. He makes 3-pointers. On Swain, he’s just so athletic. He can get downhill, he can defend, and he’s not a ball-stopper. Lots of upside with Swain, I think. These guys could be perfect trade-down targets if all the guys the Mavericks want really badly are gone before the ninth pick. Marshall your resources and get after it.
Matt: One draft pick? That player could become anything! The skies the limit. Ah, but TWO draft picks? My draft crush is trading down. At 9, Dallas seems unlikely to be able to nab any of the truly top-tier guards in this draft. Not to say a guy like Philon or Burries can’t be great, but taking them at 9 also feels like leaving a little value on the table if you could be taking them at 12. The dream is to swap the 9 pick with an OKC team who has too many picks to even consider adding to a roster that’s already a title favorite – that means acquiring the 12th and 17 pick, STILL getting to draft Philon and ALSO a guy like Allen Graves, who is this year’s mid-round darling. Dallas needs to take as many swings as they can in these early roster-building years, especially with how bare our draft cabinets are moving forward.
Kirk: I went from being open-minded about players to falling head over heels for Mikel Brown Jr. Pair his size and willingness to shoot and he’s the guard for me. Unfortunately, there’s no way he’s going to be there for the Mavericks at nine and I’m going to have to find another love.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - MAY 15: Jalen Duren #0 and Caris LeVert #8 of the Detroit Pistons defend James Harden #1 of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the second quarter in Game Six of the Second Round of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at Rocket Arena on May 15, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Game Vitals
Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI When: Sunday, May 17 at 8:00 PM EST Watch: Amazon Odds: Pistons (-4.5)
Eulálio clings on after summit finish at Corno alle Scale
Jonas Vingegaard triumphed for the second time in three days to win stage nine of the Giro d’Italia on Sunday, with the Dane going solo at the end of the climb to the finish, while Afonso Eulálio remains in the overall lead.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider tracked race rival Felix Gall (Decathlon) when the Austrian attacked near the end of the 184km stage from Cervia to Corno alle Scale, but Vingegaard powered away in the closing kilometre, with his Visma teammate Davide Piganzoli coming in third.
Unfortunately for the Mets, injuries have been the major storyline from their first quarter-plus of the 2026 regular season. From Juan Soto, to Francisco Lindor, to Francisco Alavrez, to Luis Robert Jr., to Jorge Polanco, the list goes on and on.
The club’s latest stroke of bad injury luck came on Friday night, when starting pitcher Clay Holmes fractured his fibula on a comebacker to the mound.
Holmes, who stayed in the game on Friday a bit longer after the injury occurred, said he initially thought he could pitch through it, but by the end of the outing he was not surprised by the diagnosis.
“When it first hit me, I knew I could still put pressure on it, so I thought I still had a chance to pitch,” he said. “I’ve done this before, back in 2020, and it kind of immediately gave away on me then, so I was kind of hoping this was different.
“I kind of knew walking off that it was probably broken, so I was kind of expecting it and wasn’t surprised with the X-rays. But it caught me good. Had some hope there for a little bit, but the more I was throwing on it, it kind of continued to feel worse. Like I said, I have some history with it, so I knew that it probably wasn’t great.”
Back in spring training of March 2020, Holmes suffered a similar fracture in his right foot after a Nelson Cruz comebacker caromed off of him. But Holmes said it’s hard to compare the two injuries because the last time he recovered happened during the COVID shutdown and he was back for the start of the shortened season in July.
The good news, it seems, is that Holmes believes he can avoid surgery. While adding a plate or a screw to stabilize the bone hasn’t been entirely ruled out, Holmes said that having surgery “doesn’t seem to be the case,” though the medical staff is still gathering information.
“Comes down to how well the bone heals,” Holmes said.
Injuries are never welcomed with open arms, but Holmes’ fracture comes at an especially rough time for both the player and team. Individually, Holmes has been one of the Mets’ most consistent starters this season, pitching to a 2.39 ERA. The Mets, meanwhile, have gotten off to a rough start as a team, but are a game over .500 in their last 10 games.
According to Holmes, the toughest part is not being out on the field with his teammates as they try to climb out of this early hole.
“It’s tough. Just from a personal standpoint, I feel like I was in a good spot, the body and the arm,” Holmes said. “It’s kind of hard to stay healthy in this game as is, and I’ve had some freak accident things that are out of your control that are tough. More than anything, not being able to compete with the guys here, the team.
“We haven’t gotten off, I think, to the start that we wanted or everybody wanted, but just to see how guys were battling through it and seeing how things were starting to come together, you just want to be in the fight with everyone.”
Nobody who watched the first week of Rece Hinds’ MLB career will ever forget it. Most everybody who watched it will use it as a measuring stick for the debut of any other player, so rife was it with gargantuan homers and pinpoint precision with his powerful swing.
If only things had managed to keep even a sliver of that pace.
The Cincinnati Reds designated Hinds for assignment on Sunday morning as part of a larger series of short-term focused roster moves. They needed a 40-man roster spot for a catcher since they needed to place Jose Trevino back on the 10-day IL, and it was Hinds’ spot that, for whatever reason, was up.
Cincinnati also shuttled Luis Mey back to AAA after his rough outing last night, recalling a fresher Jose Franco to help add to the bullpen depth for the time being.
The story here, though, is with Hinds. Even as recently as spring training, manager Terry Francona spoke about how Hinds had done everything he needed to do to make the team only to lose out on a numbers game. Then, when Noelvi Marte ran into a serious slump to begin the 2026 season at the big league level, it was Hinds – not JJ Bleday – who was turned to, and he got a multi-week run in the outfield almost every day to show whether or not he’d made significant enough improvement at the AAA level to warrant a full-time role in the big leagues.
He went 4 for 33 with a lone walk and 18 strikeouts, with nary a homer to his name.
There is huge swing and miss with Hinds, that’s undeniable. The former 2nd round pick is still just 25 years old, though, and the rest of the tools in his arsenal are pretty dang impressive, and there will undoubtedly be another team out there willing to take a flier on him to see if they, unlike the Reds, can unlock the rest that’s there.
If anything, this also rings as an endorsement of who else the Reds have in their current outfield mix. Bleday has obviously hit the ground running, and the presence of Blake Dunn, Hector Rodriguez, and Marte has obviously given the Reds the impression that they’ve got a baked-in hierarchy at the position that no longer needs Hinds, should he be claimed on waivers.
There’s no doubt that the Montreal Canadiens would have liked to clinch the win in their second-round series against the Buffalo Sabres last night at the Bell Centre, but the visitors had other plans. Despite the disappointing result and humiliating scoreline, there was no panic in the Habs dressing room after the game.
Of course, the atmosphere wasn’t the same as it would have been if things had gone according to plan, but none of the players interviewed looked like they had lost all hope. Sophomore defenseman Lane Hutson conveyed how the team chose to attack the prospect of a Game 7 on Monday night:
There’s no panic or anything, I think we’re all excited. It’s just more hockey for us. We don’t want it easy; we like the challenge, and they brought their best. We’ve got to answer the bell.
As for the Canadiens’ coach, Martin St-Louis, he looked confident at the prospect of playing a do-or-die game in Buffalo on Monday night:
I feel like we’ve been good at bouncing forward, and that’s what we intend to do. It wasn’t our best tonight. […] We’re going to reset, go on the road and try to put our best foot forward.
As philosophical as ever, the bench boss explained:
We didn’t have much calm, much poise. You have to live through those moments to learn. Those are stressful moments for the players; they want the result, and it’s noisy and chaotic. Tonight, we couldn’t see things clearly through that chaos. We’re better than this; it just wasn’t a good game for us. […] We’re gaining experience, that’s for sure. That’s how you grow, through those experiences.
Meanwhile, captain Nick Suzuki said his side would have to rely on the experience they gained through Game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning and that they could let this 8-3 loss be their last game of the season on home ice.
Hopefully, the Canadiens will have learned through their experience in Tampa that you have to take more than nine shots on goal to win, normally. It’s hard to think they will go through if they deliver the same kind of performance on Monday as they did two weeks ago in Florida.
However, they can take a lot away from the way they played throughout the first round against the Bolts. Contrary to the first few games against the Sabres, there was a lot less space on the ice for the Canadiens’ forwards. Lindy Ruff’s side applied consistent forecheck on the puck carrier, not unlike what Tampa did. That's something they'll need to adjust to if they want a better result on Monday.
Oct 22, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Seattle Mariners pitcher Adam Macko plays for the Peoria Javelinas during an Arizona Fall League baseball game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Yeah, this is the way this season is going.
Tommy Nance has been put on the IL with forearm discomfort. Well, they said ‘right forearm discomfort’….but I figured you guys knew which arm it would be. Nance has pitched in 19 games, 20 innings, 16 hits, 1 home run, 8 walks, 24 strikeouts with a 4.05 ERA. He pitched three of four games from May 9 for May 12, but hasn’t pitched since then.
Adam Macko has been called up from Buffalo. He relieved in 13 games, 18 innings, allowing 13 hits, 3 home run, 8 walks and 19 strikeouts with a 4.50 ERA. He also pitched for Team Canada in the WBC.
Macko was #7 on our prospect list this year. Tom M wrote:
Every year there’s a guy I don’t think I’m going to have all that high in my rankings who, once I sit down and put together the probabilities that we use to underpin the expected value scores, just has to be up there. This year it’s Macko. He didn’t perform great in Buffalo’s rotation last season, but he held batters to a 73% contact rate overall and just under 82% inside the zone, both of which are solidly above average and represent steps forward over his superficially more impressive 2024.
Macko grew up in Slovakia, a noted baseball hotbed, and learned to pitch from watching YouTube. He moved to Canada and was drafted by the Mariners in the 7th round of the 2019 draft out of the noted baseball hotbed (but mostly not sarcastic this time) of Vauxhall High School in Alberta. He worked his way up to A+ in the Seattle organization before coming to Toronto in the Teoscar Hernandez deal. From there he’s gone one level at a time, establishing himself in Buffalo in 2025. He’s been maddeningly inconsistent, dealing with both actual injuries and fluctuations in his stuff and command. On the right day, he’ll spot 94-96 with a crisp slider and promising change, while on the wrong day he’ll be missing the zone entirely and sitting 91 with shaky secondaries. Things seemed to click a bit in the second half last year after a demotion to a long relief role. He sat closer to the top of his velocity range in three inning appearances and allowed just a 64% contact rate, generating 29 Ks and 61 swinging strikes in 26.0 innings while keeping his walks (6) under control.
I think that’s Macko’s most likely role going forward: a high quality multi-inning reliever who can make the occasional 5 and dive spot start. If that brings out the good version of him, the one with three 55 grade pitches that he can locate, more often, he could be an actual weapon on a good team. There’s still some hope that he finds a way to harness that quality in the rotation, in which case there could be a #3 starter in there, but that would take achieving a consistency that we haven’t yet seen from him.
When he makes it into a game, it will be his first major league appearance.
Congratulations Adam. Heal up quick Tommy (I have a friend that calls me Tommy, and I’m never sure how to react really, cause I don’t think that’s my name. But, we named my middle boy Thomas (my father, and his father, and his father were all Toms) and he decided, very young, that he was Tommy and he’s continued that way into adulthood and it suits him).
Today’s lineup. There are some changes. Pinango leads off, with Vlad second (DHing) and no Springer.
May 16, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Corbin Carroll (7) reacts after striking out with two on base in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images
At 11.3 kg of chocolate consumed each year, Germans eat twice the amount of chocolate that Americans do.
Croissants are not French.
You might associate croissants with French lifestyle, but the croissant is actually from Vienna. In the 13th century, it was known as a kipferl, a denser bread made in the distinct crescent shape.
Silent Hill is based on a real place.
If you’re looking for nightmare fuel: The eerie psychological horror game is actually based on a real place. If you’re a brave soul, you might want to visit the abandoned town of Centralia, Pennsylvania. Travelers who have visited confirmed the Silent Hill-esque unsettling feel.
BINGHAMTON, NY - JUNE 25: Brian Metoyer #28 of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies pitching during the game between the Portland Sea Dogs and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies at Mirabito Stadium on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in Binghamton, New York. (Photo by Kylie Richelle/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
This isn’t the dead cat bounce of a new coach. They smashed Hawthorn in every facet of the game to show they are a serious AFL team
“Do you know what you need in a new coach?” interim president Brad Green was asked at the press conference announcing Simon Goodwin’s sacking last year.
NEW YORK - CIRCA 1976: Lou Piniella #14 and Carlos May #38 of the New York Yankees poses together for this photo prior to the start of a Major League Baseball game circa 1976 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. Piniella played for the Yankees from 1974-84. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) | Getty Images
In August of 1969, Carlos May found himself laying in a hospital bed. Just weeks removed from appearing in his first All-Star Game, the burly outfielder was, by his own admission, feeling sorry for himself. That’s because he’d suffered a freak accident during a gunnery exercise while fulfilling his service obligations with the U.S. Marine Reserves, losing part of his right thumb. At the age of 21, it looked like the promising future for which he’d worked so hard might be over as soon as it began. Instead, played 10 years in the majors — a more than commendable career.
Carlos May Born: May 17, 1948 (Birmingham, AL) Yankees Tenure: 1976-77
May grew up in Birmingham in the shadow of his older brother, Lee. Lee May was a three-sport athlete at Parker High School before embarking on an 18-year MLB career, earning the nickname “Big Bopper” while swatting 354 home runs. Carlos followed in his footsteps, playing baseball, basketball, and football at Parker High. Despite receiving a scholarship offer to play running back and punt at Southern University, May opted for baseball. “I saw the size of some of those guys, 270-280 pounds, and thought baseball would be a lot healthier for me,” he would later say of the fortuitous decision.
In 1966, the year after Lee made his debut with the Reds, the White Sox took Carlos in the first round of the MLB Draft. While he didn’t have the prodigious power of his big brother, who stood four inches taller, May showcased an impressive hit tool, batting .333 in 604 Single-A at-bats between the 1967 and ‘68 seasons. That was enough to earn him a September call-up in ‘68. He’d never see the minors again.
In just his age-21 season, May emerged as an offensive force in 1969, slashing .281/.385/.488 in 367 at-bats. He made his first All-Star game that season as the lone representative of an eventual 94-loss Chicago squad. The showcase allowed the Mays to make history as the first brothers to oppose each other in a Midsummer Classic, with Lee representing the Reds in the NL.
Carlos got one at-bat in the game and was faced with the dubious obstacle of opposing Hall of Fame knuckleballer Phil Niekro. Unsurprisingly, he struck out to end the game. “Lee was at first base and he had his glove over his mouth,” Carlos later said. “He was laughing so hard at me. I’d never seen a knuckleball before; I didn’t know how to hit the thing!”
That moment of levity would stand in stark contrast to the months ahead. After the injury that cost him part of his right thumb, May spent months in and out of hospitals, leveraging everything from massage therapy to skin grafts to toughen up the skin around his wounded hand. He maintained a remarkable sense of perspective throughout the crisis.
“When I first went to the hospital, I felt sorry for myself,” said May. “Then I looked around. I saw guys with no eyes, guys with no legs, guys with half a head, guys who couldn’t talk, walk, hear, guys with no mind or half a mind. I began to think, ‘What am I griping about?’”
After making a few adjustments — including the use of a custom batting glove designed by Wilson Sporting Goods — May was ready to return for the 1970 season. The rapid recovery was not lost on his teammates. “Carlos really showed me something,” said Tommy McCraw, a first baseman and outfielder on the ’69 and ‘70 White Sox. “He’s got great courage. If he didn’t have real guts, he’d be back in Chicago, not out here trying to play ball. I know he has pain every time he throws, but he keeps throwing anyway.”
While May never again slugged as much as he had in his rookie season — a campaign in which he hit 18 home runs in 100 games and finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting — his hitting ability and plate discipline kept him performing at a high level for the next three seasons. May had a career year in 1972, making his second All-Star team while slashing .308/.405/.438. He began to fall off in the years after that showing, as leg injuries had further sapped his power and made him a liability in the outfield.
On May 18, 1976, the day after his 28th birthday, the White Sox traded their homegrown star to the Yankees for pitcher Ken Brett and outfielder Rich Coggins. The lefty had gotten off to a brutal start, slugging just .206, but found new life in pinstripes, serving almost exclusively as a DH, where he split time with the right-handed Lou Piniella. In 87 games, May hit .278 and got on base at a .358 clip, an encouraging return to form.
May showed out in the first playoff game of his career. In Game 2 of the ALCS, the DH went 2-for-5 against Royals pitching. Unfortunately, he’d go 0-for-14 the rest of the way, unable to contribute as the Yankees got swept by the Reds in the World Series.
May got off to another slow start in ‘77, posting a .601 OPS in 65 games before getting moved to the Angels. After appearing in just 11 games there, it looked like a 10-year career that had yielded two All-Star berths and a .274 batting average had run its course. Indeed, at the age of 29, May had played his last game in the MLB. But, after being recruited to play for the Nankai Hawks of the NPB, he had a second act in Japan. In four seasons with the Hawks, May slashed .309/.390/.506 and hit 70 homers, showcasing more power than he had in the States and ending his playing career on a high note.
After hanging up his spikes, May transitioned to a career with the U.S. Postal Service and has remained involved with the White Sox in their Community Relations Department. “I came to Chicago in 1968 and haven’t left,” May said of his adopted city. “They have the greatest fans in baseball. I played with the Yankees and the Angels, but the White Sox are me. I am a Sox die-hard fan. It hurts me when they don’t do well.”
While his stint in New York was brief, May was part of a pivotal team in Yankees history, one that ended a 12-year playoff drought and set the stage for championships in 1977 and ‘78. Please join us in wishing a happy 78th birthday to Carlos May.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
