Padres LHP Allen debuts vs. Brewers RHP Woodruff
Joey Lucchesi gave the gassed San Diego Padres pitching staff a much-needed boost Monday night with seven scoreless innings to start a three-game home series. Even so, the state of San Diego's pitching will again be in the spotlight Tuesday night as left-hander Logan Allen will become the fifth rookie to make his major league debut as a starter for the Padres this year. Allen, 22, will be paired against Milwaukee right-hander Brandon Woodruff (8-1, 3.87 ERA) as San Diego look for its third straight win. Allen had a 4-3 record with a 5.15 ERA this season in 13 starts for Triple-A El Paso. He registered 63 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings with a 1.44 WHIP. But numbers weren't the reason why the Padres promoted Allen. "We don't necessarily stare at the stat line in El Paso any more whether it's the pitchers or hitters," Padres manager Andy Green said Monday while discussing Allen. "We look at the whole body of work, and we feel the secondary (info) is where it needs it to be for Logan to be successful here. "We like the four-pitch mix he brings. We feel over the last few starts, he's trended in the right direction. Obviously, we're in a place of need right now. We need someone to step up big to help us. He's a guy we've been paying attention to for a long time," Green said. Before Lucchesi and two relievers pitched a four-hit shutout Monday in a 2-0 win, Padres pitchers had given up 48 runs on 69 hits in a four-game split in Denver. The four starters gave up 24 runs on 34 hits in 12 1/3 innings. Allen will become the 10th different starting pitcher the Padres have used in 74 games. "Being here still hasn't hit me," Allen said Monday. Green added, "There is opportunity for anyone who steps up." Allen replaces another rookie left-hander in the Padres' rotation. Nick Margevicius was optioned to Double-A Amarillo on Monday after giving up nine runs on 11 hits and a walk in just 1 1/3 innings at Colorado on Sunday. Allen faces a tough challenge opposing Woodruff, one of the leading sinkerball pitchers in the National League. "When Brandon's on, it's a lot of ground-ball outs, soft contact and swings and misses," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "And he's on much of the time." The Brewers are 12-2 when Woodruff starts, including wins in his last nine starts. He is 7-0 with a 3.39 ERA in that nine-outing span. Woodruff has 23 walks and 96 strikeouts in 81 1/3 innings this season. He has a 1.156 WHIP and a .235 opponents' batting average. Woodruff is eighth on the National League strikeout charts. He is averaging 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings with a 4.2-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The 26-year-old Mississippi native has faced the Padres only once in his career, a two-inning relief outing on March 30, 2018. He allowed a run on three hits with a strikeout. The Brewers have lost four of their past six games. --Field Level Media |