This isn't your daddy's Logan Allen. Or it isn't, uh, your big brother's. OK, bad analogy. It isn't the one who was pitching for the Guardians as recently as (checks notes) last year.
No, this is a new and improved Logan Allen, one so exalted that the CBS database lists him by his full name, Logan Taylor Allen. Just look at what this lefty can do:
Little high, little Lo.
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) April 23, 2023
Logan Allen struck out 8 in his Major League debut.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/PrtTm0dczF
It was an impressive debut for a pitcher with a mostly impressive minor-league track record. But you'll notice he never topped 93 mph. He doesn't measure up in the ways pitching prospects are traditionally measured, which has kept him buried in the prospect rankings despite the strong track record.
Allen's debut goes a long way toward answering how the production will translate, but there's still the question of how long he'll stick around. So let's get into it.
Possible waiver wire pickups
Allen doesn't throw hard, averaging just 92 mph on his fastball, but like many lefties, he has that deceptive, Alex Wood-like quality that allows his stuff to play up. It explains how he averaged 11.8 K/9 over his minor-league career and put together a 1.26 ERA in three starts prior to his call-up. The eight strikeouts Sunday were one thing. The 17 whiffs were another. The nine swings and misses on that not-so-fast fastball of his were most impressive of all. The single biggest factor in determining a pitcher's upside is whether he gets whiffs with his fastball, and at first look, Allen does. The Guardians are the premier organization for pitcher development, and their rotation has no shortage of needs right now. Allen may just take off from here.
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Coming into the season, there were two major knocks on Brandon Marsh. One was that he strikes out at an exorbitant rate, close to 35 percent of the time. The other was that he doesn't play against left-handers. Neither seems to be such a big deal now as he's absolutely kicked the door down with his performance. The strikeout rate is still high, but it's at least below 30 percent. Meanwhile, he finally got a start against a left-hander (Kyle Freeland) over the weekend, giving him 10 consecutive starts in all. And the performance? Well, only Rafael Devers and Matt Chapman have more than Marsh's 14 extra-base hits, and with his 90th percentile sprint speed, he's plenty fast enough to tack on some stolen bases.
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Sunday's gem makes it two in a row for Eduardo Rodriguez, who shut down the Guardians over eight innings last time out. With zero walks and 30 swinging strikes between the two, he clearly has a good feel for his stuff right now. He's not a stranger to these kinds of results either. The left-hander had 19 wins and 213 strikeouts in 2019. The three years that followed were tumultuous, but at 30, he's not too old to regain that form. Clearly, the Tigers were betting on it when they signed him to a five-year deal prior to 2022. The biggest issue is, well, he pitches for the Tigers, who rank dead last in runs so far, but if he's going to be anywhere close to this efficient, he's well worth rostering anyway.
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Most everything points to Jose Alvarado being the one true closer for the Phillies, not the least of which is performance. No longer burdened by his past control issues, he's been a bat-missing machine, averaging nearly two strikeouts per inning. More revealing is that he recorded three saves for the Phillies over a four-day span, from Tuesday through Friday. Sure, Craig Kimbrel got a save Saturday, but it stands to reason Alvarado needed a day off after, again, working three of the previous four days. So why was the left-hander working the eighth in a lopsided victory Sunday? OK, so maybe the Phillies haven't entirely abandoned the committee approach, but Alvarado has all the momentum right now and is looking like a potential stud in the role.
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If you play on CBS, anyway, you may not have had the opportunity to pick up Yandy Diaz, who's finally putting his premium exit velocities to good use with an improved launch angle this season. Fortunately, the Rays are pulling the same trick with Harold Ramirez, whose five home runs bring him within one of last year's total and nearly halfway to his career high. Like Diaz, Ramirez's high quality of contact (not as high, but high enough) had mostly translated to batting average in years past, but if he's figured out how to elevate better, he could be a real asset in Fantasy. It seems like he's shedding the platoon label, at least, having started seven of eight. Meanwhile, he's batting .457 (16 for 35) during a nine-game hit streak.
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If you started prepping for your draft in, say, February, you may remember Bryan De La Cruz had some early sleeper buzz after a hot September that left him with a better xBA (.287) and xSLG (.498) than Rafael Devers. Well, now he has a .287 xBA and .438 xSLG, which are pretty close. Shoot, his actual marks are .314 and .471. It took a big weekend to get him there -- one in which he went 5 for 11 with a home run and four doubles -- but the point is that those high Statcast marks last year don't appear to have been a fluke. De La Cruz lost his sleeper status this spring because the Marlins raised questions about his playing time, but now that he's started 14 straight, it's time to give him another look.
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Wait, Drew Smyly took a perfect game into the eighth inning against the Dodgers? It wasn't all a bunch of lucky bounces either. He struck out 10 over 7 2/3 innings, collecting 18 swinging strikes. Though this one was by far his longest, the 33-year-old left-hander has three strong starts in a row now, and it's worth pointing out he finished last year on a high note, too, recording a 2.28 ERA in his final nine starts. He seems to fare better when he leans more on his curveball, which he threw 53 percent of the time in this one. He's looked downright dominant before, striking out 42 in 26 1/3 innings during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Though he hasn't been the most durable or reliable, Smyly has shown us enough over the years to justify a flier now.
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A report came out over the weekend suggesting the Twins may not activate Alex Kirilloff when he finishes the 20-day rehab assignment for his surgically repaired wrist, wanting to make sure he's fully locked in before they put him back in front of major-league pitching. His performance Sunday may have changed that thinking. He went yard twice -- once to left field and once to right -- to continue his assault on Triple-A pitching. Even amid the wrist soreness last year, Kirilloff hit .359 with 10 homers and a 1.106 OPS in 45 games at St. Paul. The 25-year-old wouldn't appear to be a lost cause despite the many interruptions to his career already. In five-outfielder leagues especially, he's worth a preemptive stash.
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