Usually when you struggling coming out of the bullpen, you aren’t promoted to the rotation. But who else did the Rangers have? Kolby Allard is fortunate to pitch for the Rangers and their paper-thin pitching roster. When injuries created an opening, there was nobody else to step into the rotation.

Allard seems to have regained the promise he showed for a brief period when he came to the Rangers in 2019, when he won his first four decisions, when it looked like fortune smiled on the Rangers.

But all that hope vanished in 2020 when he crashed and burned in the rotation, going 0-6 in eight starts, with an 8.80 ERA.

He looked like just another typical Rangers starter. Still, Allard was pressed into service, perhaps reluctantly. He has made the most of it. 

He lost his first two starts, but that’s only because his team is offensively inept and couldn’t score runs. He gave up only two in both of those games. He went five scoreless his next game.

Yesterday, he threw six innings and gave up just two runs, on four hits. The Rangers lost, of course. But Allard not only kept them in the game, he gave them every chance to win, had his team been able to score more than two runs.

But the good news is, Allard has earned a slot in the rotation. That’s not saying much, considering the sorry state of the Rangers rotation. But Allard has now pitched to a 2.70 ERA in his four starts.

And that is very un-Rangers like. And very welcome.

Here’s hoping he can keep that up. The Rangers badly need success stories. Especially from starters.

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TODAY’S GAME:

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO ALL THE DADS ON RR3.