After the Los Angeles Angels claimed Jacob Rhame, the New York Mets added another young arm to their 60-man player pool. 23-year old Ryley Gilliam is the newest Met to join the team in Flushing as another insurance piece should injuries or COVID-19 take out someone on the roster.
One year ago, Ryley Gilliam had just been drafted by the #Mets. Last night, he made his Triple-A debut.
In 1.1 innings, Gilliam struck out two with his 96 mph fastball. pic.twitter.com/XPY4zM7y9c
— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) June 12, 2019
Gilliam is a raw prospect with a live arm which the Mets drafted only two years ago. In 2018, he threw 17.1 innings at low A and pitched to a 2.08 ERA with 31 strikeouts. Gilliam moved around quite a bit last season. He pitched at high A, double-A, and triple-A.
He struggled during his time in triple-A but pitched well everywhere else. The most impressive part of Gilliam’s season was his 13 K/9 over 38.2 innings pitched. He still has not reached 100 professional innings in his career but is rising fast in the Mets farm system.
If the season carried on, as usual, Gilliam would have been an excellent triple-A season away from potentially making it to the big leagues. He is currently on the bottom of the depth chart, but his stuff plays well enough to open some eyes for 2021 is he does not play with the Mets this season.