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jbone17
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Hey, fellas. I was fortunate enough that my local minor league team, the Lakewood Blue Claws are in the South Atlantic League Championships against the prospect-heavy Rome Braves. As it so happens, Kolby Allard was the starter for Rome. I know he has a big following on here, so I decided to throw my two cents into the hat on how Mr. Allard looked. I hope you enjoy my take.
Delivery
Let's put it this way. Allard has a very interesting delivery. It almost looked like he was pushing the ball towards home plate at times. When he follows through, he lifts both arms up and hides the ball for that extra second. The one major thing that impressed me is that he repeats these moving parts with Kershaw-like precision.
Repertoire
His fastball was hovering between 91-93 MPH with decent movement. His breaking ball was by far his best offering which had a late break. He didn't go to the change often, but it had solid movement. He did get away with some high fastballs, but his stuff was that good to make decent hitters miss bad pitches.
Grit
Allard did not get emotional on the mound. He walked a few batters, threw deep counts at times, errors were made behind him, and that competitive flare was there. This kid, put simply is a gamer. For a 19 year old, the composure was beyond his years. He threw some aggressive breaking balls in counts where Low-A hitters wouldn't expect it.
Future
Based on what I witnessed, Allard has the potential to be a bona fide ace, very similar to a Cliff Lee in his prime. His floor is a #3 starter and if he goes below that, I'd be shocked. As he moves up the ladder, his fastball command will need to improve by a micro-fraction. He can get away with the high fastball in this league, but they would have ripped some of these offerings in the show. I'd like to see him incorporate the changeup more and all reports suggest this pitch is coming along. We could be looking at the next best pitching prospect in all of MILB.
Delivery
Let's put it this way. Allard has a very interesting delivery. It almost looked like he was pushing the ball towards home plate at times. When he follows through, he lifts both arms up and hides the ball for that extra second. The one major thing that impressed me is that he repeats these moving parts with Kershaw-like precision.
Repertoire
His fastball was hovering between 91-93 MPH with decent movement. His breaking ball was by far his best offering which had a late break. He didn't go to the change often, but it had solid movement. He did get away with some high fastballs, but his stuff was that good to make decent hitters miss bad pitches.
Grit
Allard did not get emotional on the mound. He walked a few batters, threw deep counts at times, errors were made behind him, and that competitive flare was there. This kid, put simply is a gamer. For a 19 year old, the composure was beyond his years. He threw some aggressive breaking balls in counts where Low-A hitters wouldn't expect it.
Future
Based on what I witnessed, Allard has the potential to be a bona fide ace, very similar to a Cliff Lee in his prime. His floor is a #3 starter and if he goes below that, I'd be shocked. As he moves up the ladder, his fastball command will need to improve by a micro-fraction. He can get away with the high fastball in this league, but they would have ripped some of these offerings in the show. I'd like to see him incorporate the changeup more and all reports suggest this pitch is coming along. We could be looking at the next best pitching prospect in all of MILB.