Ben Cherington has a knack for picking up left-handed starting pitchers from the free agent market to slot into the Pittsburgh Pirates’ rotation. From Derek Holland in 2020 to Andrew Heaney in 2025, they’ve usually consisted of veteran back-of-the-rotation arms. The Pirates currently have a rotation spot open after trading both Johan Oviedo and Mike Burrows earlier this offseason. While they could go the route of a Jose Quintana or Tyler Anderson reunion, there is another lefty that they should have in mind, one that could be a potential hidden gem still lurking on the free agent market: Kolby Allard.
A former 14th overall selection in 2015 by the Atlanta Braves and a premier pitching prospect during the late-2010s, Allard didn’t come close to matching his expectations for the first seven seasons of MLB play. He was used as an up-and-down starter/reliever for the Braves, Texas Rangers, and Philadelphia Phillies, while posting a FIP over 5.00 (5.25), and an ERA approaching 6.00 (5.99) over his first 272 innings of work at the Major League level.
Allard went into 2025, mostly seen as a depth arm for the Cleveland Guardians, but became a solid multi-inning/spot-starter swingman type pitcher. In 65 innings over 33 appearances, including two starts, Allard owned a 2.63 ERA, 3.54 FIP, and 1.20 WHIP. Allard excelled at limiting hard and quality contact, along with walks. He was in the 78th percentile of exit velocity at 88.2 MPH, with an 87th percentile barre rate, at 5.7%. He was also in the 92nd percentile of walk rate at 5.3%. The only downside was his 15.8% strikeout percentage.
One might argue that Allard is a regression candidate. After all, he had a 4.67 xFIP and 4.47 SIERA. Both are significantly worse than his 2.63 ERA. However, they outperform both Jose Quintana and Tyler Anderson. The former had a 4.92 xFIP and 5.07 SIERA. Meanwhile the latter had a 5.41 xFIP and 5.23 SIERA. Allard also had a massive edge in xERA at 3.36. Neither Quintana (5.20) nor Anderson (5.06) were below 5.00.
Allard may not have elite stuff, but neither does Quintana. Allard had an 86 Stuff+, giving him slightly better pitch quality than Quintana at 85. Sure, Quintana had a 104 Location+, and while Anderson may have had a much better 97 Stuff+, he only had a 96 Location+. Meanwhile, Allard had a solid 102 Location+. Allard threw just about as hard as both Quintana and Anderson, as all three sat between 89.2 MPH and 90.5 MPH last season.
Allard also has youth on his side. He is only going into his age-28 campaign. Anderson turned 36 on December 30th, and Quintana turns 37 on January 24. He may still have a chance to improve on his game, while both Quintana and Anderson are likely in the twilight of their careers.
The only major advantage that Quintana and Anderson have are their durability. Quintana made 24 starts in 2025 with 131.1 IP. He also started 31 games with just over 170 IP in 2024. Anderson has made at least 25 starts six times in his career, now five straight seasons in a row, and has tallied 160+ frames on four different occasions. Allard meanwhile didn't even throw 100 innings last year.
While Allard may not be as ready to handle a starting pitching workload compared to Quintana or Anderson, he still has more upside than either, would likely be cheaper, and the Pirates have both Hunter Barco and Carmen Mlodzinski who could offer him support to get through games. At the very least, he has the potential to be a solid swingman type pitcher, and help keep the seat warm until Jared Jones is back in action at the Major League level.
