Once considered the top pitching prospect for the Atlanta Braves, Kolby Allard is looking to regain the promise he once showed.
Kolby Allard entered the 2017 season ranked as the 37th best prospect in all of baseball, and was a top prospect for the Atlanta Braves.
That was after the former first-round draft pick posted a 3.18 ERA in 87.2 innings between Rookie ball and Single-A.
He went on to put up good numbers at Double-A in 2017, and then he dominated Triple-A competition in 2018 before getting promoted to the Atlanta Braves.
And that’s where Kobly Allard got exposed a little bit.
He’s never been an overpowering pitcher, but instead has relied on his elite command to generate weak contact.
Allard has a career BB/9 of 2.7 in the minors, but he wasn’t able to carry that command to the big leagues and he was hit hard giving up 19 hits in 8 innings, while issuing 4 walks.
He’s been up-and-down back at Triple-A this year, but he’s put together a string of really good starts that makes me believe he’s ready for another at the big leagues.
What kind of pitcher can Kolby Allard be?
Kolby Allard is not going to be that top of the rotation pitcher that some may have thought he could be a few years ago.
If you look at his Minor League numbers, he’s never really been that dominant pitcher.
But, he has proven that he can get people out, work deep into games, and keep his team close.
That, to me, signals a middle of the rotation pitcher, and I think that’s Allard’s ceiling at this point.
The left-handed pitcher has the chance to give you 5-6 innings while allowing 2-4 runs. Honestly, that’s not much different than what we get from most of our pitchers right now anyway.