How a role change could help Guardians' Logan Allen reach new level

In Logan Allen’s first three seasons with the Guardians, he tallied a 4.48 ERA across 379 1/3 innings, a tangible example of just how average he was during that time. 

That big league experience seemed to give him a bit of a leg up during spring training as he fought for the final spot in Cleveland’s starting rotation. 

But he ended up being on the outside looking in when the Guardians broke camp thanks to a strong showing from Parker Messick. That ended up being the right decision, as Messick’s turned in a stellar year that’s seen him become Cleveland’s co-ace alongside Gavin Williams. 

But Allen got another chance to make a big league impression over the weekend after he was called up to the bigs in place of reliever Peyton Pallette, who was designated for assignment. 

He ended up making his season debut on Monday and ate four innings out of the bullpen in Cleveland’s 10-2 loss to the Nationals. 

Although he allowed two (unearned runs), he racked up seven strikeouts across those four innings.

That performance may not mean much in the grand scheme of things since it came at a point when most fans had turned the game off, it could be a big step in the right direction for a pitcher who previously seemed like an organizational afterthought. 

The Guardians made the right decision in moving Logan Allen to the bullpen

Monday’s appearance was the second career relief outing for Allen, who spent a week in the ‘pen last year during a mid-season reset. 

He also worked exclusively as a starter in Triple-A and posted a 5.45 ERA in 38 innings, though he did record 43 strikeouts. 

That uptick in his swing-and-miss stuff was evident in his outing against the Nationals. Three of his whiffs came on his cutter, two came on his sinker and two came on his fastball. 

While Allen was already going to be a valuable piece of the bullpen considering Pallette had the fifth-most appearances on the Guardians (15), he became even more important on Monday when the Guardians placed Erik Sabrowski on the injured list. 

Even if Allen isn’t going to fill Sabrowski’s set up role, Tim Herrin was the only other southpaw in the ‘pen, so the left-handed Allen provides a bit of insurance in that department. 

Moving Allen to the bullpen always made sense as a hypothetical given it would help him get a bit more out of his arsenal while obviously limiting the amount of times that he’d see the opposing batting order. 

He could be a good matchup option against leftys along with also working as a longman, which is what he did on Monday. 

But regardless of whatever role the Guardians decide to use Allen in, he still could end up being an important arm in the bullpen as Cleveland looks to adjust to life without Sabrowski. 

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