Not a lot has gone right for the Cleveland Guardians in 2025, as the team is now 9.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers and 40-40 on the year.
The offense has been a complete disaster, but the pitching staff has been mostly solid, including one surprise who has been the “most improved player” for the team so far, according to one analyst.
Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller recently wrote an article highlighting the most improved player from every team thus far, and lefty reliever Kolby Allard received the honor for Cleveland.
“LHP Kolby Allard,” Miller wrote. “Allard was a first-round pick in the 2015 draft, but never much looked the part before this season. From 2018-24, he logged 272 innings pitched with a 5.99 ERA, bouncing from starter to reliever, as well as from Brave to Ranger to Phillie. But he’s faring pretty well thus far in a mop-up role in Cleveland.”
Allard bounced around the league over his first six years in the majors and was likely on his way out of MLB before his impressive stretch to begin this year.
He has a 2.76 ERA through 29.1 innings with the Guardians so far, mostly in mop-up duty, which is a far cry from the 5.99 ERA he had for his career prior to this stretch.
Some of the peripherals are discouraging, as he still has a 1.43 WHIP due to giving up 36 hits in those 29.1 innings, and he has given up at least one run in each of his last four appearances, so it’s not all great for Allard.
That being said, his career got off to such a poor start, you have to root for the guy and hope this continues to be a breakout for the 27-year-old.
If he can maintain this production through the dog days of summer, perhaps we’ll see him more regularly in some higher-leverage situations.
NEXT: Guardians Ace Takes Another Step In The Right Direction
