Young Allen has a major league glove but needs the bat
MESA, ARIZ. >> The A’s had their first Cactus League win in hand, and prospect Nick Allen was manning shortstop for the game’s final innings. The winds at Hohokam Stadium picked up and a Cincinnati Reds hitter lobbed a high-flying pop-up into foul territory beyond third base and home.
Allen tracked down that windswept ball all the way from his post near second base to a few feet shy of home plate for an out. It was a piece of cake. It was the third nifty defensive play Allen had made easy that day — he’d also stolen a hit that looked cleared to beat the shift and turned a difficult double play.
Though an unknown entity to most fans yet, Allen’s defensive wizardry is a known commodity in the A’s organization. At age 22, they already suspect they have a Gold Glover on their hands. And these A’s coaches know a Gold Glove infielder when they see one.
“I haven’t seen a glove like this since Matt Chapman,” A’s assistant hitting coach Eric Martins said. “He’s a magician out there.”
What differentiates the two, aside from playing different positions? Chapman is aggressive in his approach but poetic in his execution. His two platinum gloves came after years of redefining the way third base can be played — copycats are playing further back on the dirt, almost like
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Allen, A’s coaches say, is just as impactful and plays with more polish and flair. He’s shorter in stature — listed as 5-foot-9 — but sneaky strong. Like Chapman, he has a quick twitch, with quick hands and feet. A strong, accurate, arm with substantial range. Like Chapman, he’s confident — sometimes too confident.
“Sometimes he makes it look fancier when he doesn’t have to because he gets bored making the routine play,” A’s farm director Ed Sprague said earlier last month.
In an A’s farm that’s been ranked among one of the worst in baseball by national analysts, Allen has emerged as one of the organizations’ top names. The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked him third in the A’s system this season, saying “Allen could play shortstop in the majors right now.”
Why isn’t the next Matt Chapman in the majors yet? There’s one simple reason, and the A’s seem to think he’s not too far off from clearing the hurdle.
Allen has heard the talk about his impressive glove, but he’d never fancied himself a defensive specialist. Growing up in San Diego, part of Allen’s routine involved heading out into the West Coast sun to throw a ball against the wall and field it.
“I always felt like my
game, people notice the defense a lot. I felt even on both sides,” Allen said on a Zoom call. “I feel like defense … I never thought about it. It just happened.”
To reach the big league’s doorstep, Allen needs to prove that he has the bat to withstand big league pitching. The knock against him has been a tendency to lift the ball too often. Since he isn’t a power hitter, Allen’s success at the big league level will come if he can drive the ball consistently.
Allen knows this. But until this year, he’s had little opportunity to find his stride at the plate. Allen was drafted out of Parker High at age 18 and had a dismal year in A-ball with the Beloit Snappers, batting .239 with a .603 OPS. He looked cleared for redemption in 2019 with the high-A Stockton Ports, batting .292 with 22 doubles
through 72 games, but the dream season came to an end thanks to a gruesome injury he sustained sliding into third base against the San Jose Giants. He came away from that June game with a partially torn ligament and high ankle sprain in his left leg.
Back healthy in 2020, Allen was ready to take off again until the pandemic hit and shut baseball down. For a player in dire need of reps, the past two years haven’t been giving.
“Offensively, yeah, he’s lacking at-bats,” Sprague said. “He’s a high school kid, he’s had a half-season of A-ball, and he hasn’t played above that.”
Martins first laid eyes on Allen when he was a high school kid. Martins was scouting and remembers watching Allen float at shortstop with the Area Code underclass team in San Diego.
“Right then and there he just caught my attention with how good he was defensively. His instincts and feel for the game,” Martins said.
Now that Allen is in his batting cages every day this spring, Martins can see the work Allen put in during the offseason to be a stronger hitter as he, hopefully, approaches a full season.
Back in San Diego during the pandemic shutdown, Allen refocused his attention on his lower body. Realizing he wasn’t using his strength the right way, Allen worked on his mobility and used med balls to train himself to stay firm into the ground during in his swing.
“That’s why it helps me hitting line drives, I can create a better angle to the ball,” Allen said.
He wasn’t trying to hit fly balls, Allen said, but now that he’s using his legs the right way, it’s helped him transfer his power more efficiently and create a better level plane when he hits the baseball.
“That was the main thing that a lot of coaches around the organization talked to me about. I was trying to get after it in the offseason,” Allen said. “I think it’s paying off right now. I can see the difference.”
Allen is hitless in a handful of at-bats this spring, but he got hold of a ball against the Dodgers and drove it to the outfield wall only for it to find a glove. Though an out, coaches took that contact as a positive sign that he was using his strength the right way.
With Marcus Semien gone to play second base with the Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland’s contending team lacked an everyday shortstop. Allen might have been ready defensively, but clearly needs the reps at the plate before even sniffing a big league call-up.
“He’s made progress in terms of who he is at the plate,” Sprague said. “Can he go up and hit .270? No, I don’t think so. But I wouldn’t put anything past him. In that environment, you’d have to worry about the confidence offensively. He’s a young guy, he’s a little undersized, but he’s a strong kid. I think he’ll eventually hit some home runs but that won’t be his game.”
The A’s front office swung a blockbuster trade with the Texas Rangers, sending Khris Davis and Jonah Heim for shortstop Elvis Andrus. Picking up Andrus gives Allen at least two seasons to become a bonafide big league hitter.
“He’s a kid you don’t want to rush to the big leagues,” Martins said.
There’s no rush, but a spotlight should shine on Allen. The missed time due to injury and the pandemic, the blip in development at the plate has kept Allen mostly off the national radar until recently. He didn’t crack any national top 100 prospect lists.
Chapman stayed clear of most top prospect lists, too.
“Our organization and prospects are always underrated,” Martins said. “Chappy wasn’t rated that high and look what he’s doing.”