- Programming note: Brodie Brazil's interview with Trevor May will air in two parts Saturday and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. during "A's Pregame Live" on NBC Sports California.
Trevor May believes things are improving when it comes to conversations surrounding mental health in MLB.
The Athletics reliever returned Tuesday from the injured list after a five-week stint because of anxiety-related issues, and he recently shared with NBC Sports California's Brodie Brazil how he hopes those discussions can continue to evolve.
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"I think guys will -- bare minimum, and I already see people in my closer orbit, my teammates -- is at least guys are looking and are like, ‘Is this -- what is this? Is this just normal, I’m anxious for the game or apprehensive,’ " May told Brazil of how the conversation has evolved in recent years. "It’s hard to peel it apart. It’s weird."
Just being aware something might be off is the first step, May explained, after Brazil told him that from 1972 to 1991, not a single MLB player went on IL for mental health reasons. These days, it's something players are more willing to speak about.
And for May, talking to the next generation of players about struggles they likely will face is just as important.
"I had a 12-year-old kid ask me this offseason -- I was doing pitching lessons with a group -- he goes, 'How do you get rid of the fear of failing?’ " May said. "And I told the 12-year-old, to his face, I said, ‘Oh, fear doesn’t go away. It doesn’t go away, it’s how you respond to it is what being an athlete is.’ "
Oakland Athletics
In May's case, he responded by taking time away from the game to address his anxiety head-on. After he was activated by Oakland on Tuesday, May pitched a scoreless inning in relief during the A's 3-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners.
With more and more players, analysts, coaches and others within the game taking time to focus and speak on mental health issues, May believes the movement seen so far will only continue gathering steam.
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And, with the right help, he hopes players can address their self-related concerns quickly so that they might be able to avoid potential IL stints.
"... We’re all nervous, anxious or scared, or tired, fatigued, whatever. We play every day. We feel some level of that, everybody feels something," May said. "So when it gets [to be] a lot, you’re just like, ‘Oh, I’m just more nervous.’ But maybe -- it’s almost like you have to go through it for a long time to address it. And people who haven’t really done a lot of work or thought about it this way in a long time, it takes them longer.
"But hopefully, people can at least start to look within and be like, ‘What am I actually feeling and why?’ And then go from there, and maybe seek help and get some people who can be like, ‘Oh, this is what this commonly could be, and maybe this will help’ before this has to happen."