Texas Rangers: Kolby Allard is pretty good for a 26th man

Can we take a moment to appreciate just how spectacular Texas Rangers‘ lefty reliever Kolby Allard has been out of the bullpen this season?

Pretty good for a 26th man, we’d say.

Allard, if you recall, was the Texas Rangers’ surprise selection to be the roster’s 26th man when spring training concluded at the end of March, beating out the likes of Adolis Garcia, Hyeon-jong Yang and Hunter Wood, among other candidates.

With his 4.96 ERA in 2019 and 7.75 ERA in 2020, surprise was definitely the word to use when we first heard the news that the 23-year-old would join the big league squad on Opening Day in Kansas City.

Surprise is also the word we’d use to describe (in a pleasant way, of course), Allard’s remarkable turnaround into an effective relief option for manager Chris Woodward late in games in 2021.

Texas Rangers: Kolby Allard’s breakout season appears to have finally arrived.

On the season, No. 39 sports a 1.80 ERA in 10 relief innings, having whiffed 15 batters and posting a microscopic 0.80 WHIP.

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10 innings is a small sample size, obviously, so these stats should be taken with a grain of salt. Still, they’re a positive sign from a pitcher who’s spry enough to right the ship.

Considering the Rangers’ hideous bullpen ERA of 5.03 this season, Allard’s 1.80 ERA looks even better in that context.

Allard was acquired in a July 2019 trade with the Atlanta Braves, but just hasn’t had the kind of success in that time that either the Texas Rangers or Allard himself were hoping for.

That appears to be changing in short order for 2021.

It’s heartening to see that the 23-year-old is building off a strong spring training in which he posted a 3.86 ERA in 11.2 innings, striking out the same number of 15 batters in that span.

It’s also encouraging to see the Rangers taking on an internal reclamation project, particularly with pitching, where the organization has struggled to develop talent over the years. Texas looks like its reviving Allard’s career right before our eyes here.

If this revival is indeed successful, things could finally be looking up in the pitching department for the Rangers.

But yeah, Kolby Allard seems to be pretty good for a 26th man.