4-20-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
Looking to avoid being swept for the second weekend in a row, the Pirates will have to face off against Cleveland’s surging southpaw, Logan Allen.
Allen is in his third MLB season, entering play today with a 1-1 record and 2.30 ERA over his first 15.2 innings pitched, relying mostly on pitching to contact as opposed to missing bats with just 11 strikeouts and 9 walks on the season as he has one of the worst K/BB rates among starting pitchers with 10+ innings pitched this year.
The soft-tossing southpaw has generated positive results due to his ability to limit hard contact and induce ground-balls at a high rate.
Allen features three fastballs: low-90s 4-seamer, high-80s sinker and mid-80s cutter. He adds in a low-80s changeup and a high-70s sweeper, which has become a main putaway pitch for the lefty.
The 26-year old Allen locates the 4-seamer up in the zone, generating above-average rise away from righties while working his sweeper and changeup low in the zone to change speeds and eye line.
While hitters have been getting good results against the changeup, this has been more due to luck as the exit velocity and launch angle some batted ball luck. On the other hand, his 4-seamer’s oBA of .091 appears unsustainable given the same criteria and taken into account his career .289 BAA on the offering.
Attack the high heat and lay off the low breaking stuff with less spin and look for something that you can barrel up.
If hitters have to swing down on the ball today, they’re going to drive it right into the ground. If they can swing up more, they’re going to have better chances of flipping the ball into shallow outfield or giving it a trip to the grandstands.
Steel City Pirates 