Allen unbowed by rough outing vs. Royals

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Logan Allen’s goal is to make the Padres’ Opening Day rotation. If he does, he’ll surely have an occasional rough start, much like his Cactus League outing on Sunday.

Allen gave up six runs on six hits, including three home runs, in 1 2/3 innings against the Royals at Surprise Stadium. The left-hander, whose fastball was sitting in the 91- to 93-mph range, frequently fell behind in counts and left some balls up in the strike zone while testing various pitches in different situations.

But that’s what spring is for, and Allen knows it.

“I was working on some things. I fell behind some hitters -- those are big league hitters, that’s what big league hitters should do,” said Allen, the Padres’ No. 9 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. “Results definitely aren’t what you want to see, but it is Spring Training, so [there's] a lot of stuff I was working on.”

After Whit Merrifield homered on Allen’s second pitch and Adalberto Mondesi singled, Allen settled in during the opening frame. He got Alex Gordon to fly out, picked off Mondesi at first and struck out Jorge Soler looking at an 80-mph breaking ball.

But Allen couldn’t get settled in the second, when he issued a leadoff walk and allowed back-to-back singles before Cam Gallagher hit a three-run home run to left field. Three batters later, Mondesi belted a solo homer to chase Allen.

Allen pitched well in his first two Cactus League outings, tossing 3 2/3 combined scoreless innings. He was hit in the left thigh by a liner in his previous start against the White Sox on Tuesday, but he said that wasn’t an issue Sunday.

Allen is in big league camp for the first time, and he has never pitched in an MLB game. But he has had success at every level of the Minors. Last year, he pitched in Double-A and Triple-A for the first time, going 14-6 with a 2.54 ERA and 151 strikeouts in 25 games (24 starts) between Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A El Paso.

“He’s just poised,” said Padres bench coach Rod Barajas, who managed El Paso the past three seasons and was impressed by Allen in 2018. “You’ll find that common theme with a lot of our young pitchers -- competitors who want the ball. He had the changeup already. He had the fastball command, fastball life, even though he doesn’t light up the radar gun -- 2-0 counts, 3-1 counts, a lot of foul balls. It was hard for them to square him up.”

Allen is among a group of nine pitchers competing for three spots in San Diego’s rotation, with Joey Lucchesi and Eric Lauer very likely to have already secured their places.

At 21, Allen is still learning how to pitch well against big league hitters, so there are certainly lessons he can take from rough outings.

“Obviously, there are always things to work on,” Allen said. “When things are going good, you don’t tend to think about it as much. It’s moments like this when you step back and say, ‘OK, I’ve got to get that breaking ball down. OK, I’ve got to get ahead.’ In my first outing, I was money. I was getting ahead of every hitter. They spent very little time in the box.

“When I did get ahead, I didn’t put guys away today. The assessment is much easier when you have moments like this, and it only makes you better.”