Cleveland's Logan Allen works with Shane Bieber on new curveball grip: Walk-Off Thoughts

Here are two Walk-Off Thoughts after Cleveland (70-73) split a doubleheader Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins.

When the reigning Cy Young Award winner is in the same clubhouse every day, it's a resource that can't be wasted. Earlier this season, starter Zach Plesac revealed he had been working on a new curveball, the result of a conversation with Shane Bieber, who owns some of the better breaking stuff in all of baseball.

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Logan Allen has now followed suit. Allen, who has been trying to put a summer of frustration behind him and finish the 2021 season on a high note heading into next spring, revealed after his start in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader in Minnesota that he had talked with Bieber and altered the grip on his curveball as a result.

Logan Allen alters grip on curveball with Shane Bieber's help

A few days before his start, in which he cruised through the first three innings before a rough fourth forced him from the game, Allen brought the new grip to a bullpen session, and the positive feedback as immediate. The idea was to have the curve work off his fastball and sinker a bit more to utilize his arsenal in a more efficient way.

"It wasn't something drastic. You throw it the same, it's just a grip change and it was something that clicked pretty quickly," Allen said. "You not only have good pitching coaches but we also have guys in the clubhouse to lean on and talk to, and we have a pretty good one in Cy Young Shane Bieber."

"I've had the same curveball grip forever and I throw a slider that's pretty slow and big, so I'm like, you know, my curveball is a little similar to that as far as velocity and has a little bit of a hump in it. So just talking through some things with him, some grip stuff, just started throwing it in my last bullpen and I was like, 'Wow, I like this.'"

That wasn't Allen's only alteration. He also recently implemented a new change-up, which aided in his strong outing on Aug. 27 against Boston, his first positive start in the majors since early April. Between those two periods, Allen worked — with a lot of trial and error — to rediscover his form from this spring when he effectively forced his way into the Opening Day rotation. Instead of a breakout 2021, Allen spent most of it in Triple-A Columbus battling elbow and command issues. He then fired six one-hit innings against the Red Sox, the first sign in months he had finally put together at least part of the puzzle.

In the three outings since, the results haven't quite been there, though the focus is more on the road ahead, his own development and how Allen might fit into Cleveland's 2022 plans. As one of a few pitchers who will be out of minor league options, he could potentially serve as a lefty out of the bullpen capable of throwing multiple innings, similar to Sam Hentges. He'd also be starting rotation depth behind Bieber, Plesac, Aaron Civale, Triston McKenzie and Cal Quantrill, assuming those five comprise the 2022 Opening Day rotation, the first as the Guardians.

Cleveland's pitching collaboration remains an organizational staple

One of Cleveland's standard operating procedures dating back several seasons has been the directive for the starting pitchers in the rotation to watch each other's bullpens, dating back to the Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Josh Tomlin days. It led to collaboration between the team's talented stable of younger pitchers, along with the added effect that it's more difficult to take a day off or slouch with your peers watching.

For Allen and others, being able to collaborate with Bieber and Co. is a resource that can't be ignored. The communication at that level — player to player — in addition to everything coming from the coaching staff is one of the many reasons why Cleveland's pitching development has remained among the game's best over the last several years.

"It's incredible. These guys have been there and done it," Allen said. "Everybody has their own thing they're really successful with, whether it's Triston with how he throws his fastball, Civale with how he uses his off-speed to get to other stuff and Shane's curveball, slider, everything, is pretty outstanding. It's always good to pick their brains.

"Not a lot of organizations have that. A lot of guys just have stuff, and all the guys here have a routine. They know how to throw it and they're always open to helping, and that's something I'm grateful for."