The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Allen wins spots on Tribe staff
Latest product of pitching factory joins rotation
“I gained a ton of success doing all the little things they wanted me to do. It didn’t happen overnight. I’m a completely different pitcher than I was on July 31, 2019.” — Logan Allen
Around Major League Baseball, the Indians minor-league system is known as The Pitching Factory for a valid reason. The Tribe keeps churning out starting pitchers the way General Motors churns out Cadillacs.
Logan Allen is the latest to come off the same assembly line that produced current Indians starters Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac and Arron Civale and before them Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger, among others.
Allen, the only lefty in the Tribe’s rotation, was acquired at the July 31 trade deadline in 2019 from the San Diego Padres in the three-team trade in which the Indians shipped Bauer to the Cincinnati Reds.
Indians president Chris Antonetti on a Zoom call March 28 said Allen will be with the Indians on March 30 when they leave spring training. Allen will pitch in the Indians home opener on April 5 against the Kansas City Royals.
“We could use an opener and have Logan come in behind him or just have Logan start the game,” Antonetti said. “He’s been one of the highlights of camp for us. It really started with the work he put in in the offseason both on his body and with our coaches and staff out here in Arizona to put himself in position to have a good spring training.
“He showed up with a great mindset and was ready to go. He’s been arguably one of our most consistent guys throughout the course of the spring. We’re excited that he’s earned that opportunity to continue that throughout the course of the regular season. We look forward to him continuing to contribute.”
Antonetti also announced pitchers Triston McKenzie and Cal Quantrill are on the 26-man roster. Both could start the season in the bullpen.
Allen, 23, made his Major League debut with the Padres about six weeks before the Indians acquired him in the Bauer trade, but he definitely was not the marquee player added to the Indians’ roster. Outfielders Yasiel Puig from the Reds and Franmil Reyes from the Padres were the big names — at least in 2019.
Allen pitched only once for the Indians in 2019. He threw 2 shutout innings on Aug, 14. He gave up three hits and struck out three Boston batters, but did not allow a run.
The Indians figured Allen needed more seasoning and coaching. Unfortunately for him and others, there was no minor league season in 2020 because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Still, he and the coaches worked hard on making a transformation. Allen showed up in Goodyear, Ariz., 35 pounds lighter than when he was with the Indians at spring training 2.0 in July last summer weighing a porky 240 pounds.
“You could ask every pitcher in the clubhouse. They’d have a lot to say about (the pitching factory),” Allen said on Zoom. “First and foremost (Indians assistant pitching coach) Ruben Niebla and the minor league staff, (pitching coach) Carl Willis — they laid everything out to me.
“They taught me what things meant and helped me buy into this process of what the Indians do so well.
I gained a ton of success doing all the little things they wanted me to do. It didn’t happen overnight. I’m a completely different pitcher than I was on July 31, 2019.”
Allen also credited Bieber, Plesac and Civale plus catcher Roberto Perez for accelerating his development
“This Indians Pitching Factory is no joke,” Allen said. “I know it’s a small sample size, but if I continue in the regular season doing what I’m doing now like I plan on, it’s pretty obvious it works.”
Allen pitched 14 innings in four Cactus League appearances this spring. He allowed one earned run, walked three batters and struck out 18.