Three Mets prospects who could find themselves in the rotation this season

Franklyn Kilome – Mets number 22 prospect per MLB.com

Our final entrant is a man who has already pitched for the Mets. Franklyn Kilome, the number 22 prospect in the system, logged 11.1 innings in relief for the 2020 Mets. The results weren’t great. He posted an 11.12 ERA and took home a loss.

This isn’t the end of the experiment with Kilome. Acquired in the 2018 trade which sent Asdrubal Cabrera to the Philadelphia Phillies, he’s a man about to enter an important season of his career.

Kilome has already undergone a major injury which knocked him out for all of 2019. Now healthy again, the 2021 season is about a few things for him. He has to prove he is healthy and effective. In addition to those obvious goals, he needs to stand out from the rest of the starting pitcher candidates.

I don’t see Kilome slotting in as a starter permanently in the big leagues with the Mets. As much as we can ignore the 2020 pains, I feel there are too many people ahead of him within the system. Unless he becomes ace-like, he’ll eventually get passed by younger prospects in the system.

Talking about this year alone, we COULD see Kilome start for the Mets. Given the choice of him or a green pitcher such as Szapucki or McWilliams, I personally prefer we see what one of them do instead.

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It will be interesting to see exactly how the Mets line up their depth chart this year. Guys like Robert Gsellman could also potentially get a start ahead of these prospects. A lot may simply depend on whose arm is the hottest when the team needs to make a call to Syracuse.