The two first games of the week were rough for Cleveland Guardians’ starting pitchers.
On Monday, Luis L. Ortiz was battered for seven earned runs in 4.2 innings pitched.
Then, on Tuesday, Logan Allen allowed four in 5.1 frames but had 12 runners on base between walks and hits.
They appear to be, at the moment, the weakest links of the Guardians’ rotation.
They don’t have the same leash, though.
Guardians insider Chris Assenheimer joined Baskin & Phelps on Cleveland’s Talking Heads and suggested Ortiz has a much longer leash than Allen.
“Logan Allen is on a much shorter leash than Luis Ortiz in the Guardians starting rotation,” 92.3 The Fan posted on X with Assenheimer’s thoughts on the situation.
.@CAwesomeheimer on @CLETalkingHeads: Logan Allen is on a much shorter leash than Luis Ortiz in the #Guardians starting rotation https://t.co/aRXf6UlYu8
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) April 2, 2025
Assenheimer explained that Allen showed many of last year’s blunders during his start on Tuesday: walking batters and allowing home runs.
The same can be said about Ortiz, who was actually worse than Allen statistically both in spring training and in their respective starts this week.
There is, however, an important thing to consider in the analysis: the Guardians went out and traded for Ortiz.
They flipped Andrés Giménez, a fan favorite no less, to get him.
It makes sense to, as Assenheimer says, give Ortiz at least four or five starts before thinking about making a change.
The feeling is that Allen has more to prove and less time to turn things around: the memory of his 5.73 ERA last year lingers, and while his strong spring gave him a rotation spot, it could all change in a hurry if he doesn’t right the ship soon.
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