Cleveland Indians: Cody Allen deservedly named reliever of the month

Cleveland Indians closer Cody Allen was named the American League’s best reliever in April, and began his May with a shaky but effective outing.

Cody Allen gave Cleveland Indians fans quite the scare Wednesday night. He couldn’t seem to hit his spots and walked the winning run on base in the bottom of the ninth.

But Allen got it together and retired the final two batters he faced, securing the win and picking up his seventh save of the season.

Allen came in after Andrew Miller pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Carlos Carrasco, who went six and only allowed two runs.

It was the perfect formula for a win that Terry Francona has used since the team acquired Miller, but Allen has consistently been the anchor. He has gotten off to another outstanding start in 2017, and has been honored as the American League Reliever of the Month for April.

The April numbers are scary good, as seen above. To make things even more impressive, those 20 strikeouts came against just 40 batters. He also only allowed a single run, which came in a game still won by the Indians.

A lot of the national media focus was on Miller entering the season, and he deserves it. He struck out 16 of 47 batters in April, and still has not allowed a run this season.

So when it came down to voting, it is possible Allen and Miller were both at the top of the list. Closing out six games without a mistake may have won it for Allen in the end.

The duo’s dominance has made it clear that any lead taken into the seventh inning is in great hands, as Miller can go two innings and Allen can come in for the ninth. And even if Miller is able to go two, the rest of the bullpen has been so great he may only be needed for just one inning.

No runs in 34.1 innings is an insane mark, and it has been done from everyone in the bullpen. But at the end, Allen has been there to close out games.

Next: Kluber officially on the DL

The Indians are off today which means Miller and Allen both get a free day of rest to be fresh for the series in Kansas City. And with the way the Royals have been playing, fans may be seeing a lot of the Indians’ dynamic duo over the weekend.