Lucas May

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Lucas James May (born October 24, 1984 in Las Vegas, Nevada) is a catcher in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.

May graduated from Parkway West High School in Ballwin, Missouri. From there, he skipped college and entered the Major League Baseball draft in 2003. He was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 8th round as the 241st overall pick.

May began his professional career after he signed with the Dodgers. He played at the rookie level for the Gulf Coast Dodgers in 2003. He played shortstop and batted .252 with no home runs in 48 games. In 2004, May stayed at the rookie level, playing for the Ogden Raptors. Playing in only 34 games, he had a .286 batting average with 5 home runs.

He was promoted to Single-A in 2005, playing for the Columbus Catfish. He played shortstop as well as beginning to play in the outfield. His bad defense had prompted the organization to make the switch as he committed 18 errors in 46 games in 2003, 18 errors in 34 games in 2004, and 26 errors in 46 games.^[1] May played for the Catfish again in 2006, this time seeing all his action in the outfield. In 119 games, he had a .273 batting average and showed some power, hitting 18 home runs.

In 2007, May was promoted to the next level. He played for the Advanced Single-A Inland Empire 66ers. Switching positions again, he played the whole year as a catcher and displayed tremendous power in his 128 games played. His 25 home runs were tied for second in the California League and his 89 RBIs were good enough for 10th in the league. His slugging percentage was little more than 200 points higher than his batting average and his strikeout totals went down from 130 to 107 from the previous year. He was named to the California League All-Star team and went 1 for 4 with two runs scored in the All-Star game.

Following the season on November 20, 2007, May's contract was purchased by the Los Angeles Dodgers, protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft. The Dodgers have assigned May to the Double-A Jacksonville Suns for the 2008 season.