In this segment, I will pick some players who need to step it up, right now. Not just for the Mets, but also for the players themself. First up, right handed pitcher Franklyn Kilome.

Kilome got his first taste of the majors in 2020 and it wasn’t pretty. However, it was his first outings after returning from TJS. I do believe there is more in Kilome than he showed thus far. But time is ticking for him to perform.

At this point Kilome is one of the depth pieces on the 40 man roster. If there is a need, he could be the one promoted. However, at some point, the Mets will need the roster spot and if he doesn’t perform, he could lose his.

Location location location is the main issue for Kilome. He lives up and away and down and in. However the swinging percentage is fairly low.

This means he gets behind and needs to attack. And when he does attack, hitters have an extremely high swing percentage. And hitters have success when he throws in the middle (like with most pitchers).

In the zone, Kilome gets hit hard and the balls are put in the air. Not a resume for success. However, when Kilome pitches inside, he is more succesful. It only seems like his pitches bleed over the middle or get overthrown. As a tall guy, it looks to me like his mechanics aren’t in sync. After TJS, it’s no surprise that he has some issues with his mechanics.

Kilome had a 17.1 barrel % again, which is almost 11% higher than league average. It accounted for his 11.12 ERA over 11.1 innings. Not a good first look for the guy we got back in the Cabrera trade.

However, Kilome is still young at 25 and his big frame and stuff should be solid enough to be an useful arm. Kilome throws his sinker most of the time, however his movement wasn’t great, he lacked inches of drop off. His slider, curve and 4 seamer also lacked movement. This shows his pitches were straight as an arrow and easy to read for hitters. Can he rebound and improve his spin rate? Could this be why his mechanics was not in sync? I still see a solid arm. 11.1 innings of work is such a small sample size, especially after major surgery. It’s logical if he needs some work to get back.

But even with him just coming back, the time is ticking for him. Mets will address the depth and he might fall back in the order without pitching well. Let’s hope he can get some work in AAA to return to form and work on things I mentioned. With the addition of Blevins and Eickhoff who aren’t on the 40 man, Kilome spot is up for grabs.

So Kilome! Time to step it up!

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