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The Marlins have agreed to a minor league contract with catcher Austin Allen, as first indicated on the team’s transactions log at MLB.com. The previous Padres and Athletics backstop will presumably vie for a roster spot in Spring Coaching with the Fish.
Allen, 29 subsequent month, was a fourth-round choose of the Padres in 2015 who went from San Diego to Oakland as a part of 2019’s Jurickson Profar trade. Baseball America ranked him sixteenth amongst San Diego farmhands on the time of the swap and eleventh amongst A’s prospects a 12 months later, however regardless of constantly impressing in Triple-A (.314/.365/.583 in 820 plate appearances), Allen has by no means gotten a lot of a glance within the huge leagues. Suspect glovework seems to be the first cause, as he’s lengthy been touted as a bat-first participant with loads of considerations concerning his capability to remain behind the plate. Allen has spent elevated time at first base and designated hitter in latest seasons however remained productive within the higher minors.
Possibilities on the MLB stage have been sparse for Allen, notably in Oakland, the place standout Sean Murphy understandably logged the lion’s share of taking part in time and extra defensive-minded gamers have usually served as his backup. Allen by no means obtained greater than 35 plate appearances in a season with Oakland and noticed solely a career-high 71 throughout his debut marketing campaign with San Diego. In 127 MLB plate appearances, he’s a .195/.252/.288 hitter.
There’s little doubting Allen’s energy, nevertheless. He’s had 4 seasons within the minors with between 20 and 22 dwelling runs, regardless of by no means topping 121 video games performed in any of these years. And, whereas he’s fanned at a troubling 37% clip in his small pattern of MLB motion, his 20.4% mark in a bigger pattern of Triple-A plate appearances is much less regarding.
Allen is out of minor league choices, so if he makes the Marlins’ roster at any level, he gained’t be capable of be despatched again to Triple-A with out first clearing waivers. He’s seemingly a depth signing behind Jacob Stallings and Nick Fortes, however Miami is pretty skinny at catcher within the higher minors, so Allen may very well be the highest possibility within the occasion of an harm. After all, subsequent offseason additions, be they Main League acquisitions or additional non-roster pickups, might see Allen pushed down the depth chart a bit.
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