Logan Allen Has Faced This Challenge Over The Last Month
There are always going to be bumps, bruises, and growing pains for rookie pitchers. That doesn't mean they don't belong in the Majors, but how they work through those struggles can shed light on how the player will develop.
Right now, Cleveland Guardians' rookie pitcher Logan Allen is facing a challenge that has grown into a trend over his last handful of starts. That's his ability to get deep into games.
Allen only lasted 3.0 inning against the San Diego Padres on June 15 while allowing five earned runs. Allen's next start was against the Oakland Athletics and he only pitched 4.0 innings before being pulled.
That takes us to Wednesday night's start against the Kansas City Royals. Allen knew he hadn't gone as long as he wanted to in his previous starts and made that a point of emphasis.
However, the lefty would only pitch 3.2 innings before Nick Sandlin came in to relieve him.
Lasting under four innings as a starting pitcher isn't going to cut it and puts way too much pressure on the bullpen for that game and the following days.
The encouraging sign in all of this is that Allen isn't being pulled early because he's giving up too many runs. It's simply because his pitch count is just getting too high.
Logan threw 89 pitched in the four innings against the A's but he didn't allow a run, only gave up two hits, and walked two batters. It was the same story against the Royals. Allen struck out five, gave up three hits, and didn't allow a runner to score even though he exited prematurely.
If Allen can throw three or four more punch-out pitches then he's looking at a start that lasts six or seven innings. We know he has it in him because five of his 12 starts have lasted longer than six innings.
This challenge is something a rookie is going to face and we should have confidence Allen will work through it and come out a better pitcher.
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