The Reds should take a flier on this recently DFA'd left-hander
Beggars can't be choosers, and given how poorly the Cincinnati Reds have begun their 2022 season, the front office should be looking under every rock imaginable in order to make the team better.
Perhaps one of the many upgrades this Reds team needs is an additional left-handed presence in the bullpen. The Cleveland Guardians recently designated Logan Allen for assignment.
Cincinnati currently has only Phillip Diehl as the lone left-hander in the bullpen. Justin Wilson is on the Injured List, but no timetable has been given for his return.
The Reds should take a flier on Logan Allen.
Logan Allen finally broke into the big leagues in 2019. After toiling away in the minor leagues while a member of both the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres organizations, the left-hander made his big league in June of 2019.
Allen pitched in eight games for the Friars that season before being dealt to the Cleveland Indians, now Guardians, at the July 31st deadline. Allen was actually part of the trade that brought Trevor Bauer to Cincinnati and shipped Yasiel Puig to Cleveland.
Allen actually started 11 games for Cleveland last season and made three appearances out of the bullpen. This season, Allen has been used exclusively as a reliever and has worked six innings.
Logan Allen is never going to blow you away with his fastball, as it typically sits in the low-90s. But his breaking ball, which Allen turns to more than 50% of the time, is a plus-pitch.
Nothing about Allen screams top-flight reliever, but the truth is that the Cincinnati Reds are virtaully devoid of anything resembling a left-handed reliever. Diehl was plucked from Triple-A only after Wilson landed on the IL. There's an outside chance that Reiver Sanmartin winds up in the bullpen, but the 25-year-old has struggled mightily in 2022.
Logan Allen is little more than a bandaid at this point in time. While it may feel like shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic, there aren't any left-handed options to speak of at Triple-A Louisville and the Reds could use another southpaw out of the bullpen.