Kolby Allard Impresses in First Start Since 2021

Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

June 28, 2023

Kolby Allard impressed in Wednesday’s game for the Atlanta Braves against the Minnesota Twins. Allard had a strong outing, holding the Twins scoreless over 4 2/3 innings. The Braves raked up the home runs on Tuesday, giving Bryce Elder four runs in the first inning and two in the second. However, Wednesday’s game was different. The Braves scored in the first and third inning but only added one run each time.

Kolby Allard Comes Out Firing

Kolby Allard started his 2023 debut very nicely. In the first inning, Allard struck out Donovan Solano in four pitches. The next batter was Byron Buxton, who worked a 7-pitch at-bat, but struck out. Finally, Royce Lewis went down on three pitches for a strikeout. Allard struck out all three batters to open up the game. It was an impressive outing from a former first-round pick that, unfortunately, has battled injuries for some time in his career. In the second inning, Allard worked his first-game magic again. Although Allard gave up a single, he struck out Alex Kirilloff and got Kyle Farmer and Christian Vasquez to ground out. In the third inning, Allard worked two strikeouts and a fly-out, adding his total to six strikeouts in three innings and no earned runs.

Escaping trouble

Allard’s first real sign of trouble came in the fourth inning. He threw a 90 mph four-seam fastball that Byron Buxton turned into a double. With the leadoff double, the Braves had a threat to lose their shutout. A fly-out to the right sent Buxton to third base, making one out and a runner on third. Kyle Farmer was up to bat, and he grounded to Austin Riley, who gunned out Byron Buxton at home to keep the Twins scoreless and ended the inning with a groundout.

Allard’s fifth inning also came with a struggle, as he gave up a single and then a walk, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Allard came back and struck out the next two batters. With a righty-lefty matchup coming up for the Braves, manager Brian Snitker called Kirby Yates from the bullpen and ended Kolby Allard’s day. Although Allard did not qualify for the win, he did have a good start for himself, coming back from an oblique injury.

Allard Summary

Besides Allard’s impressive performance, there were some quite great pitches from the 25-year-old from Anaheim, California. Although his pitch count only went to 71, Allard posted 52 strikes, a phenomenal 73.2% strike percentage on the outing. Of Allard’s 52 strikes and 18 batters, 14 started with a first-pitch strike. To start the at-bat on the right foot is a good recipe for success in the majors.

The game plan for a struggling Twins team is to force them to hit. Allard only surrendered three hits to the Twins and only posted one walk in the game. The fastball was hitting around 90-91 mph. However, the control and command to place the pitch in the right spots helped the return to success. Of the eight strikeouts by Allard, five came with the fastball. Allard’s next outing is unknown, as the Braves have not selected him as the starter in any of the following games.