Mets: Three Matthew Allan predictions for the 2020 season

An Appearance on the Big Stage: The Futures Game

If Allan really wants to make an impression in his first full season as a pro, he will have to pitch his way into the 2020 MLB Futures Game. The Futures Game, which showcases MLB’s top prospects has seen its fair share of star Mets players in recent years, most notably Pete Alonso in 2018, Amed Rosario in 2017, and Michael Conforto in 2015.

It isn’t impossible to believe that a 2019 draft pick can pitch in the futures game the following year; the previous Futures Game had eight 2018 draft picks, including four that were drafted out of high school the previous year, one of which (Alek Thomas) was not a first-round pick.

Even if the Mets’ system is a bit more strong at the lower levels, Allan won’t be selected just because he’s one of the best prospects they have. Allan will have to dazzle in his first pro season.

By comparison, 2019 Futures Game representative Anthony Kay entered his Futures Game having already mastered Double-A Binghamton, pitching to a 1.49 ERA, 7 wins, and 70 strikeouts. Of course, by the time he was selected, Kay was already in Triple-A Syracuse where he admittedly struggled against the more advanced competition, inflating his season ERA by a full run.

Allan probably wouldn’t need to be as brilliant as Kay was in Double-A, but if he can at least be 70-75 percent of what Kay was, he definitely would make it a tough call for whoever is managing the NL team at the Futures game not to pick him. Still, even if Allan cannot compete statistically, he certainly can generate buzz with his filthy stuff.

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Regardless of what Allan does this spring, he is arguably the team’s most exciting pitching prospect in recent memory, and he should be on Mets fans radars for a long time.