After a season split between the minor leagues and the majors with the Phillies organization, a member of Philadelphia’s 2024 pitching staff has signed elsewhere as a free agent.
Left-hander Kolby Allard signed a minor-league contract with the Cleveland Guardians, the team announced Monday. The deal includes an invitation to big-league spring training.
Allard, a 27-year-old with a career 5.99 ERA in parts of seven seasons with three teams, signed a one-year deal with the Phillies prior to this past season and spent most of the year with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He struggled early on, was removed from the IronPigs’ rotation after three starts and sent to the Florida Complex League in May. Allard was bumped up to Double-A after two weeks and returned to Lehigh Valley three starts later, finding much more success from there.
As the Phillies struggled to find a reliable fifth starter in the second half of the season with Spencer Turnbull out due to injury, they largely leaned on a carousel of Taijuan Walker, Tyler Phillips and Allard, along with cameos from Michael Mercado and Seth Johnson. The club never found a solution that comfortably or consistently worked. Walker cratered in the worst season of his veteran career, Phillips faded after a hot start and Allard’s results were mixed.
Allard posted a 5.00 ERA in 27 innings across four starts and seven total appearances with Philadelphia. He was effective through his first three turns in the rotation, but the Phillies sent him back down to Triple-A on Aug. 9 despite a 3.46 ERA. He returned for another start on Aug. 25 and allowed two runs on eight hits in five innings, then was optioned once again. Allard was recalled for the rest of the regular season on Sept. 14, but he allowed eight runs in his final nine innings to close out the year.
The Phillies outrighted Allard off the 40-man roster at the end of the season, and the lefty elected to become a free agent. With no minor-league options remaining, the Phillies would have had to keep Allard on their 26-man roster in 2025 or risked losing him on waivers. The team decided to just open up that spot on the 40-man roster entirely and has made other pitching upgrades since then.
Already returning a core of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez and Ranger Suárez, Philadelphia swung a trade for former Marlins left-hander Jesús Luzardo and signed swingman Joe Ross to bolster the staff. Top prospect Andrew Painter is also expected to debut for the Phillies some time this summer as he returns from Tommy John surgery.
Although the Phillies saw in 2024 that a club can never have too much starting pitching, that would’ve been a tough rotation for Allard to crack. And after the Phillies moved him off the roster, it opened the door for him to sign with Cleveland, where he likely has a better chance to make an impact in the majors next season.