According to Robert Murray, the Pittsburgh Pirates have claimed outfielder Greg Allen off of waivers from the New York Yankees.
Source: The Pittsburgh Pirates have claimed outfielder Greg Allen off waivers from the New York Yankees.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) November 5, 2021
The 28-year-old Allen is a switch-hitter, who has played parts of five seasons in the majors, seeing time with the Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees. He was a sixth round draft pick out of college in 2014, who debuted with the 2017 Indians, putting up a .625 OPS in 25 games. In 2018, he saw his most playing time and responded by hitting .257/.310/.343 in 291 plate appearances over 91 games. He had 16 extra-base hits and stole 21 bases, which he hasn’t approached in any other season in the majors. In 2019, he played 89 games and had a .229 average and a .636 OPS. Allen played just 16 games during the shortened 2020 season, with one of those games coming with the Padres. It was a rough season, with a .160 average and one homer. The past season was spent mostly in Triple-A for the Yankees, where he posted a .907 OPS in 73 games. In his brief time in the majors, he did well, putting up an .849 OPS in 15 games. He spent 2 1/2 weeks mid-season on the injured list, which slightly limited his playing time this year.
Allen had played all three outfield spots in the majors and he’s rated slightly below average defensively. He has 193 stolen bases over seven minor league seasons. He had just over two years of service time in the majors, so if he works out, the Pirates would have four years of control before free agency.
