Adversity helped this pitcher bounce back

This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Sometimes, adversity is exactly what a player needs. Logan Allen can attest to that.

The 24-year-old lefty cruised in Double-A Akron last year, owning a 3.33 ERA with a whopping 104 strikeouts in 73 innings. If he hadn’t been on many people’s radars up to that point, he demanded attention for this success. After 13 starts, he was promoted to Triple-A Columbus, but then, he hit a roadblock.

Allen made 14 starts for Columbus and pitched to a 6.49 ERA with 73 strikeouts and 29 walks in 59 2/3 innings. As much as he looked like he was on the fast track through the Minors in Double-A, he suddenly lost all momentum.

At the end of the year, Allen was part of the Guardians’ fall development program, which allows prospects to learn more about the organization and spend time around the big league team. He got to have a first-hand experience of watching the squad make a postseason run. But he needed to make one final push to prove he could belong in that mix next year.

Like with many prospects, the Guardians see an optimistic future, the team sat down with Allen and explained that the best option for him would likely be spending as much time as possible in Goodyear, Ariz., at the club’s training complex to get even more work with the pitching development team there. The team explained that it’s the best way to put yourself in the best position heading into Spring Training.

"If I was that age, I don’t know if I’d want to spend all the time in Goodyear, but you try to explain to guys it’s kind of an investment in your future,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “You don’t have to do it your whole career, but when you’re young it can really give you a boost.”

That’s all Allen needed to hear.

He spent most of the winter in Arizona and was determined to come back better in 2023 than how he ended the season in Triple-A Columbus in ’22.

“I think it was definitely the motivation that I needed to look internally, figure it out a little bit and then also look outward to some of these coaches and see what they have for me,” Allen said. “I think that when you struggle a little bit, it pushes you to lean on other people. I think I did that a little bit.”

Allen put on about seven pounds of muscle before Spring Training began and added two miles per hour in fastball velocity. The work he did over the offseason helped him to be more than ready for the start of the Minor League season and when he was granted the opportunity to put 2022 in the rearview mirror, he didn’t hesitate.

In his first three starts in Columbus this year, Allen gave up just two runs in 14 1/3 innings with five walks and 20 strikeouts. The second that the Guardians determined it was best to try a new arm in the rotation other than Hunter Gaddis, Allen was the top name to come to mind.

“If he helps us here, nobody’s going to ever care that his first handful of outings in Triple-A weren’t real good,” Francona said. “But I think what happened was it made him kind of double down on his work with winter. And I think that was really good for him.”

In a farm system loaded with pitching talent (as we saw with Tanner Bibee making his debut just three days after Allen), it was Allen who got the call first. Why? When Guardians assistant general manager James Harris was asked this question, he simply said: Because he’s faced adversity.

Allen has proven that he can respond to struggles and find ways to bounce back. He’s also shown that he has quite an impressive arsenal that can play in the big leagues. His heater can now reach up to 94 mph. His changeup is his best offering because of the fade and sink that makes it effective against both lefties and righties. In his debut last Sunday, he threw 23 changeups and none resulted in a hit. He has a sweeping slider that’s been really effective in the Minors this year and he’s also added a cutter that he works in from time to time.

Allen’s impressive debut guaranteed him at least one more turn in the rotation. If he can continue to stick to his game plan, there’s no reason he wouldn’t stick around for the foreseeable future -- all because he turned a major hurdle in his career into a launching point.

“He’s very mature, knows exactly what he needs to do to get ready and to perform,” Harris said, “had a great offseason and now he’s going to take that in to see if he can get guys out at the Major League level.”