Greg Allen was called up last week due to an injury but his time with the Indians in Cleveland may be shorter than expected.
An injury to Oscar Mercado created a need in the outfield. The Cleveland Indians called up Greg Allen while Mercado received some rest. Now that Mercado is able to play again Allen’s time in Cleveland may be coming to an end.
Excluding Allen, the Cleveland Indians have a rather full outfield. Oscar Mercado, Jordan Luplow, Leonys Martin and Jake Bauers have been the regular outfielders for some time now. With these four in the mix there simply is no room for Allen. Add in the fact that Tyler Naquin is approaching a return soon and there really is no room. With Naquin in the outfield this may shift Jake Bauers to see more time as a designated hitter. Or at least a time share at first and DH with Carlos Santana, (Bauers does have some experience at first base). Even with Bauers sharing time with Santana there is not enough at-bats for Allen to justify him being on the Major League roster.
Looking at how Greg Allen has performed in limited time this season it has not been good. Allen has struggled at the plate and struck out in 39 percent of his plate appearances this season. This is nearly double than his career 20 percent strikeout rate coming into this season. For a team that is struggling in the power department and striking out quite frequently, Greg Allen does not help the team at this time.
Perhaps there could be a time when Greg Allen could rejoin the big league club. Although with a surplus of outfielders on the roster currently and the need for power hitting that time may be much later than some anticipate.
In Allen’s defense, he has only gotten sporadic playing time so far this year. He did much better in the second half of last year when he was playing more frequently. He needs to play everyday, so sending him down to see if he can produce consistently from both sides of the plateat AAA isn’t a bad idea