Guardians Make Surprising Demotion Of High-Performing Rookie

He probably didn't see this one coming. After coming into the season as one of baseball's more elite pitching prospects, and then posting an impressive 3.47 ERA through 12 starts in the majors, Logan Allen has been sent down to Triple-A by the Cleveland Guardians.

Couple of updates:

The Guardians have optioned Logan Allen to Triple-A and recalled Michael Kelly.

DeMarlo Hale will manage again today out of an abundance of caution for Tito.

— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) June 29, 2023

Allen has used a lot of pitches in recent starts, without getting too far into games, but it's hard to argue his overall success thus far. He also has an impressive 63:24 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 62.1 innings. 

Perhaps making this even more puzzling for Cleveland fans, is the fact that Cal Quantrill remains in the Guards' rotation, with his 5.61 ERA and very weak 34:20 K/BB ratio in 59.1 innings. 

For now, the 24-year-old Allen will head back down to Columbus to ply his trade, and convince the Guardians that they made a mistake. Earlier this season in Triple-A, he earned his promotion by posting a 1.26 ERA with a 20:5 K/BB ratio in his first three starts of the season there. He'll try to replicate that success to earn another ticket to the bigs. 

Allen was a 2nd round pick in the 2020 Draft by Cleveland, and quickly ascended through the minor league system with a 3.48 ERA across three levels, while striking out a combined 11.8 batters per nine innings. 

Photo: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports