Guardians starter’s surprising WBC nod could result in fans seeing double

Earlier this offseason we got confirmation that a solid contingent of Guardians players will be participating in next spring’s World Baseball Classic headlined by top prospect Travis Bazzana. 

On Tuesday, we found out yet another Guardian will be playing in baseball’s marquee event thanks to left-handed starter Logan Allen committing to pitch for Panama (Allen has Panamanian descent through his mother). The move was confirmed by Panamanian journalist Memphys Colina.  

While Allen has been a middle-of-the-rotation starter for the Guardians, he’s going to be the staff ace for a Panama team that’s looking to make some noise in the World Baseball Classic. Allen could also end up going against former Guardians pitcher Logan T. Allen, who will be pitching for Team Canada. 

Panama is entering the newest iteration on the back of a solid showing in 2023. They started the tournament with a 12-5 win over Chinese Tapiei on the opening night of the tournament (marking Panama’s first-ever win in the WBC) and ended up going 2-2 in Pool A. 

Panama’s offense will be led by Phillies infielder Edmundo Sosa (who didn’t play in the 2023 Classic) and Yankees utility man José Caballero. They also have three MLB-quality catchers in Christian Bethancourt, Iván Herrera, and Miguel Amaya. 

Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer has been in talks to join the team (he has a Panamanian grandfather) along with Orioles top prospect Enrique Bradfield Jr.

But Allen will stand out as the team’s top starting option on the team’s staff. Allen has a 4.48 ERA in 379 1/3 innings in his career, and is coming off a season where he had a 4.25 ERA in 156 2/3 innings for the Guardians. 

Allen participating in the WBC sets up what will be an interesting spring for the 27-year-old left-hander. Normally pitchers use all of spring training — and, in some cases, the first month of the season — to build up their arsenal and endurance, but throwing the WBC into the middle of that spring training led to some big names not participating in the tournament in years prior. 

Every MLB player who plays in the WBC needs to be insured against injury, and we got a reminder of why that’s the case in 2023 when Edwin Díaz tore the patellar tendon in his knee celebrating a win.

Logan S. Allen (who is currently pitching for the Guardians) going against Logan T. Allen (the Canadian Logan Allen) would be a fun bit of trivia that would hit home for Guardians fans. 

Even though they never overlapped in Cleveland’s rotation  — Logan S. Allen pitched for Cleveland from 2019 to ‘22 while Logan T. Allen made his debut in ‘23 — there were still a couple years where you needed to use a middle initial to identify which Logan Allen you were talking about. 

Allen’s flown under the radar a bit during his time with the Guardians, but his participation in the WBC will give him a chance to show what he can do on the national stage.