Tom Brennan - SPOTLIGHT ON: METS MINORS RHRP RYLEY GILLIAM

SPOTLIGHT ON: METS MINORS RHRP RYLEY GILLIAM


I'm no LIRR - I admit it - I take the Long Island Railroad a lot.  

Thank you, I do accept your sympathies.  

I get LIRR e mail alerts on delays - some days, 100 or more e mails!

Some LIRR trains make lots of stops, like the Oyster Bay and Hempstead lines.

I get antsy, man, I like to feel like I'm moving...give me an Express instead.   

Most minor league players move like a local train - lots of stops and starts, modest acceleration at best.

Then...there are the Express Trains.

RYLEY GILLIAM IS A FRIGGIN' EXPRESS TRAIN.

PC - Ed Delany

Forget the LIRR - he is more like one of those Japanese Bullet Trains.  He throws bullets - and he's coming FAST.

Once drafted, he does fine with Brooklyn - 17 games, 17 innings, 31 Ks.  OK, you got our attention, buddy.

This year, he skips Columbia - because he is a friggin' express train, that's why - so he skips stops.  And he is in and out of stations fast.

His St Lucie career started in April 2019 and ended in April 2019 - off to Binghamton he went, where through Sunday, Gilliam had logged 10 AA innings and fanned EIGHTEEN!

Choo Choo!  Don't stand at the edge of the platform!

May has 12 playing days left (20th thru the 31st).  For Gilliam, 12 days is an eternity.

I wonder if his bullet train will be in Syracuse before May ends.  

And if it pulls in at Citifield and has him pitching for the Mets before June ends.

WHEN YOU'RE READY, YOU'RE READY.  

ALL ABOARD THE GILLIAM EXPRESS.

This season, he has had 2 shaky outings, in which he surrendered a total of 5 runs.  

In the other 11 games, spanning 18 innings, he has allowed just 8 hits, 3 walks, no earned runs, and compiled 29 Ks.  Overall this year, he has fanned 34 in 20.2 IP.

Kind of has a Craig Kimbrell sort of a feel to it, to me at least.

Here is what Mack wrote about Gilliam at the time of the draft - notice the red - it is looking prophetic:

TigerNet.com –

           Clemson junior right-handed pitcher Ryley Gilliam was tabbed among five 2018 MLB draftees to make the Major League level the fastest by MLB.com.

"Another reliever who dominated college hitters this spring, Gilliam is a small guy with a quick arm that produces one of the better curveballs in this Draft," MLB.com's Jim Callis writes, "not to mention 91-96 mph fastballs. The Clemson product has an up-tempo delivery with some funkiness that adds deception, though it also can hamper his command at times."

Gilliam was selected with the 140th overall pick in the 5th round by the Mets. He earned All-American honors last season at Clemson with 11 saves and a 1.41 ERA.

For Team USA last summer, Gilliam didn't surrender an earned run in 8 1/3 innings with a .148 opponent batting average, nine strikeouts and three saves.

Marieta Daily Journal –

           Gilliam started off as Hansen’s go-to starter before transitioning into more of a shutdown closer. With a strong fastball and a curveball that “drops off of a cliff” according to Hansen, Gilliam has seen his success carry over into the collegiate ranks at Clemson.

           Gilliam has been one of the most dominant closers in college baseball. He has 11 saves on the season, having allowed just four earned runs in 37 innings for a 0.97 ERA and .157 BAA.

If Gilliam is drafted high enough and chooses to skip his senior season at Clemson, Hansen feels he is destined to have a successful career in the professional ranks, due in large part to the experience he has been able to gain at the college level. Hansen said playing college ball does as much to help refine a player’s mental game as anything can.

Baseball Draft Report –

          I love Ryley Gilliam, one of the draft’s clear top relief prospects. He’s always had a quality heater (88-94, up to 96) and a plus breaking ball (77-81 curve), and he’s now added a hard upper-80s cutter with legitimate plus upside. Two fun names have come up when talking Gilliam: Will Clinard from Vanderbilt and Scott Bittle from Ole Miss. Bittle is one of my all-time favorite draft prospects and a really intriguing recent “what if” among prospect obsessives, so hearing that named tied to Gilliam is pretty damn exciting.      

Clemson -

Clemson junior right-hander Ryley Gilliam was selected as the 140th overall pick in the fifth round of the MLB draft by the New York Mets on Tuesday.  Gilliam earned All-American honors with an 11-save junior campaign, going 3-3 with a 1.41 ERA. He posted 54 strikeouts to 22 walks in 38 1/3 innings.  Gilliam was a standout performer for Team USA last summer, not surrendering an earned run in 8 1/3 innings with a .148 opponent batting average, nine strikeouts and three saves.

MAKE SURE YOU'RE ON THE PLATFORM WITH A TICKET... 

THE GILLIAM EXPRESS WILL BE HERE BEFORE YOU KNOW IT!


A final happy note:  

Two recently Mets minors pitchers in the "SPOTLIGHT" rocked it last night:

Anthony Kay - 7 NO HIT INNINGS! (Is he ready...already?)

Dedniel Nunez - 6 innings of 3 hit ball for St Lucie.

You go, dudes.