Former Texas Rangers Pitcher Designated for Assignment by Cleveland Guardians

On Thursday, former Texas Rangers pitcher Kolby Allard was designated for assignment by the Cleveland Guardians after just 35.1 innings with the club.

The 27-year-old was once a promising pitcher, but has struggled to find any footing in the big leagues while also dealing with injury.

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A first round pick in the 2015 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves, Allard was consistently ranked in different top 100 prospect rankings from 2016 to 2018, making it as high as No. 24 in Baseball Prospectus' 2018 list when he was with Atlanta.

His minor league career got off to a promising start, pitching to a 3.18 ERA in Double-A and a 2.72 ERA in Triple-A before being called up. It looked like the lefty could be a part of the Braves' rotation moving forward.

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However, after allowing 11 earned runs in eight innings for Atlanta in 2018, Allard was traded to the Rangers at the 2019 trade deadline for Chris Martin.

Even with a change of scenery, the former first round pick still struggled in all four seasons with the Rangers.

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The 2019 season was his best with the club, starting nine games and striking out 33 in 45.1 innings on his way to a 4.96 ERA and a 105 OPS+, the highest of his Rangers tenure.

In 2020 he struggled once again, allowing 29 earned runs in 33.2 innings and walking 5.3 batters per nine innings. After the shortened season, Allard set career highs in innings pitched, strikeouts and games pitched in 2021, yet he posted a -0.8 bWAR.

Overall in his Rangers tenure, Allard pitched in 62 games and started 34. He went 8-22 with a 5.85 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and -1.1 bWAR. After the 2022 season, he was traded back to the Braves in return for Jake Odorizzi.

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Over the following two seasons, the lefty continued his struggles. Not only did he post a 5.49 ERA between 2023 and 2024, but he had two different 60-day IL stints. First, he injured his oblique and then shoulder nerve inflammation.

However, Allard seemed to have found his footing somewhat in 2025, before being designated for assignment. In 16 games, Allard had posted a 2.55 ERA, but only struck out 16 in 35.1 innings,

Although the ERA is nice, there are factors to worry about. Both his whiff and strikeout percentage are in the first percentile, and his chase rate is just 24.3 percent, according to Baseball Savant.

It's entirely possible a team could look at the surface numbers and want to pick up the lefty as a bullpen arm. For now, a former Texas Ranger is without a job.

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