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Mets Acquire Franklyn Kilome, Pipeline Ranks 5th Among Prospects

By Jack Ramsey

July 27, 2018 No comments

The New York Mets acquired Double-A starter Frankyln Kilome from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for infielder Asdrubal Cabrera just days before Wednesday’s non-waiver trade xeadline.

Kiliome, 23, was signed as a free agent in 2013 by Philadelphia. Kilome was ranked as the Phillies’ 10th best prospect on MLB Pipeline after the mid-season updates this week.

He was ranked 129th on Fangraphs’ Top 131 prospects in June of this year and 68th on Baseball Prospectus’ preseason list.

Kilome has a live arm, posessing a fastball that sits in the upper 90s, a plus curveball at times, but struggles with a third pitch. He has tried his hand with a change-up, but Fangraphs grades his changeup as a 30/40 out of 80.

For someone that posses a fastball/curve-ball duo such as his, Kilome struggles to strike batters out. He stands at a 6.94 K/9 for the season. He has a single season high of 10.20 K/9 in 2016, but he has shown no ability to get back to that number.

Franklyn has also struggled with his control this season with 5.24 BB/9.

As of now, Kilome can profile as a starter or reliever, but will need to develop a third pitch and work on his command. Assistant GM John Ricco told reporters on Friday night that he sees Kilome as a starter with four pitches.

Kilome struggled to start the season for the Double-A Reading Fightin Phills, as he posted a 5.60 ERA in April, but has lowered it every month, and has a 2.16 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP in July.

Franklyn is 4-6 with a 4.24 ERA for Double-A Reading this season with 83 strikeouts and 51 walks in 102 innings. He has allowed only 96 hits and seven home runs this season.

Ricco also told reporters that Kilome will report to Double-A Binghamton to being his Mets career.

MLB Pipeline updated their Mets Top 30 prospects after the trade with Kilome coming in at No. 5 behind Andres Gimenez, Peter Alonso, Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn.

Here is an excerpt from MLB Pipeline on Kilome, ”Pure stuff-wise, Kilome is as good as just about any pitching prospect in the system, with a fastball that touches the upper-90s consistently combined with a curve that often flashes plus.”