Buck Showalter is back.

The manager served his suspension — which was punishment for his team throwing at Phillies’ slugger Kyle Schwarber on Sunday — in the Mets’ 5-2 loss to Atlanta on Monday. Showalter began his Tuesday chat session with the media by recalling how he learned of the news.

“Billy (Eppler) came in, I thought he was kidding,” Showalter said. “What can you do? Obviously, I made a call, trying to see what my options were. I was told that was my appeal, the phone call.”

Reliever Yoan Lopez — who was determined to be throwing at Schwarber, even though it could be argued that none of the pitches were particularly close, and none of them actually hit him — also got a suspension. Lopez, though, was optioned to Triple-A after Sunday’s game. This means that whenever he does come back, he’ll have to serve his three-game sentence before getting the chance to pitch in a game again.

Showalter offered his thoughts on that.

“It’s kind of strange,” he quipped. “You’d think he’d just serve it down there.”

He was then asked if the suspension could possibly affect the future decision, and the timing, of eventually bringing Lopez back.

“You’d have to think about it,” Showalter said. “How can you call someone up who can’t pitch?”

Beanball wars have dominated much of the narrative around the Mets this season — the one against the Phillies when Schwarber dodged a few inside pitches before Alec Bohm was hit with a changeup, and the one that caused a bench-clearing fight in St. Louis. The Mets, though, are the ones getting plunked at a historic rate, leading their manager to openly wonder why they’re being painted as the bad guys.

“It’s hard to judge intent, and I don’t know what’s being said to them behind the scenes,” Showalter offered. “We’ve moved on from St. Louis. We’re the guys that have been hit and we’re the ones getting punished. Believe me, I have some personal, private thoughts about it. I don’t know if competitively, if the timing was fair to the New York Mets.”

MAYDAY?

Right-handed reliever Trevor May had an MRI on Tuesday, one day after he allowed two runs to the Braves and his ERA ballooned to an unsightly 8.64. He spoke after Monday’s game about his struggles coming from not being 100% healthy, and on Tuesday he officially went on the 15-day injured list with right triceps inflammation.

“Pitchers are very emotional right after a game,” Showalter said. May was in a fit of animated frustration after his bad game on Monday. “Trevor’s a very proud guy who wants to contribute every time he’s out there. When you’re capable of doing something, and you’re not getting it done consistently, he gets very frustrated. I’m not frustrated at him, I’m frustrated with him. I know he’s capable of better, so I’m frustrated for him.”

Showalter said he became aware of May’s physical status about 15 minutes after Monday’s game. He said he was surprised by the news of his injury, as was pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and bullpen coach Craig Bjornson. Part of the problem, May said, was that he wasn’t comfortable throwing his best pitches in a game. With the nature of his job, that’s not something that can easily be fixed between outings like a starting pitcher.

“The problem with relief pitchers is you’ve gotta pitch,” Showalter explained. “It’s hard to take four or five days and work on things mechanically.”

May is in his second year of a two-year, $15.5 million deal that he signed after the 2020 season. In his final three years with the Twins (one of which was the shortened 2020 campaign), May had a 3.19 ERA in 113 innings and was worth 1.8 Wins Above Replacement according to FanGraphs. So far in his 71 innings with the Mets, he’s got a 4.18 ERA and 0.3 WAR.

“We’ll get to the bottom of it and try to get it worked out,” Showalter assured. “We need him.”

Adonis Medina came up from Triple-A Syraucse to replace May.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

The Mets went 20-16 in doubleheader games during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Those were seven-inning games, though, while this season brought the return of nine-inning affairs. On April 19, the Mets got their first taste of a traditional twin billing since 2019 and took both games from the Giants.

In 2020, the pandemic doubleheaders forced the Mets to be the visiting team at Citi Field, play home games at Yankee Stadium, and at one point play three doubleheaders in the same week. They went 2-6 in doubleheader games that year before rebounding in 2021.

Last season, with an astounding 28 of their 162 games (17%) coming in doubleheaders, the Mets compiled an 18-10 record and swept three of their 14 double dips.

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