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Atlanta Braves: Three takeaways from Kolby Allard’s debut

By Benjamin Chase

ATLANTA, GA - JULY 31: Kolby Allard #36 of the Atlanta Braves throws a pitch in the first inning of his MLB pitching debut during the game against the Miami Marlins at SunTrust Park on July 31, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JULY 31: Kolby Allard #36 of the Atlanta Braves throws a pitch in the first inning of his MLB pitching debut during the game against the Miami Marlins at SunTrust Park on July 31, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves
ATLANTA, GA – JULY 31: Kolby Allard #36 of the Atlanta Braves throws a pitch in the fifth inning of his MLB pitching debut during the game against the Miami Marlins at SunTrust Park on July 31, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /

1. Even mother nature didn’t want Kolby to look good!

Seriously, what a cruddy night to make your major league debut as a pitcher! Regardless of the type of pitcher you are, a wet night on the mound makes for a more difficult night. When you’re a pitcher who relies on command, feel for the ball, and late movement generated by that feel, as Kolby does, it’s a nightmare!

If you watch Allard’s minor league starts, his biggest struggles have nothing to do with his velocity. It’s all about location and movement. Allard works with a bit of deception in his delivery, with a short leg lift that he crouches his body into, then quickly explodes out of in a way that is quite unique to hitters.

Usually a guy who has a unique delivery struggles to maintain that delivery, repeat it, or at the very least, generate consistent movement from it, but that’s not been Allard at all. In fact, if anything he’s been a prime example in the minor leagues of a guy who badly needed major league umpiring with some of the ways he got pinched in games simply because he was completely leaving batters dumbfounded, but umpires weren’t giving him the call on pitches that he’d located so incredibly well that a batter simply couldn’t pull the trigger.

The other thing that the rain did was hurt his ability to really get feel for the pitch. My wife is not exactly the most ardent baseball nut, but she’s put up with a dozen major and minor league games per week during the season since we started dating, and she recognized Allard’s name when I mentioned it. Even she immediately noticed that his pitches were “flat”.

Kolby doesn’t generate huge leverage at just 6’1″ and he doesn’t even truly throw a sinker, but he throws his ball with such plane that it comes in with a hard angle that is typically difficult to elevate, as evidenced by just 6 home runs allowed in 109 1/3 innings pitched in Gwinnett this season.

His fastball and change are both notable for the late “wiggle” they get, which makes it incredibly difficult for hitters to get a clean barrel on the ball. Last night, his ball was not getting that late movement, and especially when he tired going into the sixth, plenty of balls found more of the meat (though he still really only found the heart of the bat once all night).

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