The Cleveland Guardians recently designated left-handed pitcher Kolby Allard for assignment.
Now, he’s made up his mind about his next step.
According to Guardians Prospective, Allard has elected to become a free agent.
The Guardians signed him to a minor league contract this offseason, and he spent a couple of months on the big-league roster.
Cleveland #Guardians LHP Kolby Allard has elected free agency.
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) July 9, 2025
He looked impressive as a low-leverage reliever, posting a 2.55 ERA in 35.1 innings.
Despite boasting an impressive fastball, he struggled to get strikeouts, ranking last with a 10.5 percent strikeout rate among all MLB pitchers with at least 30 innings this season.
Opposing hitters finally caught up to him, batting .395 against him in his last five appearances.
He also allowed at least one earned run in four of those five outings.
Some claimed that Allard’s numbers weren’t sustainable because of his low strikeout rate, and unfortunately, it seems like they were right.
On top of that, he’s out of minor league options, so if a team claimed him off waivers, it would have had to keep him on the big-league roster for the remainder of the season.
Allard has been in the majors during eight seasons with four teams and has yet to fully establish himself.
He has an ERA of 5.59 in 307.1 innings pitched, and though he’s has some success as a starter in the minors, he has yet to show similar results in the majors, operating mostly out of the bullpen.
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