The Cleveland Indians decided to send starting pitcher Logan Allen to the minors just minutes after Wednesday’s loss to the Minnesota Twins.
Yes, his outing was that bad.
The southpaw was trying to bounce back after allowing three home runs to the New York Yankees in his previous start.
He lasted just 2.1 innings in that loss.
But it only got worse Wednesday as Allen started the game by throwing batting practice fastballs to some of the top hitters in the game.
He was pulled after allowing three more home runs in 1.1 innings of work.
Pitches were going right down the middle and it appeared a desire to pound the zone turned into Allen serving up easy fastballs to hit.
So for now he heads down to the minors, but he should return at some point.
The Indians are optioning Logan Allen to Columbus.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) April 28, 2021
Logan Allen Needs to Make Key Changes
Allen needs to go down and work on his pitch location.
The positive for him is that he did indeed look solid in his first two starts of the season.
He even held the now first-place Kansas City Royals to two earned runs in five innings during the Indians home opener.
The left-hander then followed that up with five solid innings against the Detroit Tigers.
But something changed after that.
Logan Allen is confident that his velocity will get back to where he wants it to be.#OurCLE pic.twitter.com/ywJ2Jhxwkt
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) April 24, 2021
Indians beat reporter Mandy Bell shared a quote from the pitcher that sums up what has gone wrong.
“Baseball’s not easy, and I had this ability in Spring Training to take my delivery and throw all four of my pitches with the aggression and put it where I want it,” Allen said in the article shared on Indians.com. “Lately, it’s been all aggression, and the command has been spotty. I’m putting myself in bad counts.”
Allen mentions Spring Training, when he had 18 strikeouts and a 0.64 ERA in 14 innings of work.
But the competition was obviously not as strong and hitters were still getting warmed up.
A bad pitch in March may not travel as far as one thrown right down the middle to Josh Donaldson in April.
Deserving of a Second Chance
The Indians are not going to give up on 23-year-old after a rough stretch of starts in April.
He remains a young player and should be up again at some point this season.
The only way that doesn’t happen is if someone like Sam Hentges or Cal Quantrill grabs the fifth starter spot and absolutely dominates.
But there are still instances where spot starts are needed, so Allen should know he will be back at some point.
Getting this experience should end up being a positive for him in the long-term.
He can now work on specific things in his game and be next in line to return to the rotation.
Quantrill should realistically be next in line, but the Indians could always go with a bullpen game in that fifth starter slot for now.
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