Editorials

Stetson Allie Lights Up the Radar Gun and Turns Heads

Spring Training is a great time to see talent that you might otherwise never get a chance to. The stars of tomorrow, donning numbers in the nineties on the back of their jerseys, getting their first taste of high level ball. But the other end of the spectrum also exists. Guys who are much older than the young prospects and are looking desperately to impress late in their minor league careers. Guys like Stetson Allie.

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Allie has been around the organization for a few years now.



The Pirates drafted Allie as an infielder out of St Edward High School in Ohio in 2010, despite committing to the University of South Carolina. When Pittsburgh had drafted him, Allie was a hard throwing pitcher with plenty of potential. Things went south quickly for him though, and the team converted him to an infielder after a very rough 2011 campaign. He would not pitch consistently again until the Dodgers signed him to a minor league contract in 2017.

Allie is quite the physical specimen. At six feet two inches and weighing in at 230 pounds, only DJ Peters seems to be larger presence in the clubhouse. The confidence and swagger that Allie carries with him on and off the field are only fueled by the fact that he’s also sort of a clubhouse clown. You can hear his voice carrying across the field around the backfields at Spring Training, usually giving a teammate a hard time in jest.


In Case You Missed It

But Allie also turns heads in plenty of other ways. Most notably by lighting up the radar gun with his 100+ mph fastball. Allie spent time at three different levels in 2018, but without much success. He pitched to a combined 5.57 earned run average over 42 innings pitched between High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A. The biggest problem he faced was control, which is generally common for pitchers throwing that hard. He ended up walking close to seven batters per nine innings at those three different levels.

The good news is that things have turned around for Stetson this spring. The hard throwing right-hander has made four appearances in the big league camp and has not allowed much of anything. He has struck out four and allowed just two base hits, but the most important part has been his control. After struggling with his control for most of his career, Allie has not allowed a walk in his four innings of work.

The bad news is that time is running out. The big righty is going to be 28 years-old in just over a week. He also is not a part of the Dodgers 40-man roster, which makes any chance of him making the big league club a long-shot. Of course things can always change drastically, especially during Spring Training. Players get cut, traded, elect free agency, even injured.

But if Allie can keep up this performance, it is going to be very difficult for management to ignore. Throwing 100 mph with control and success could be huge for a bullpen. Here’s hoping we get to see the very entertaining Stetson Allie in the home clubhouse at Dodger Stadium very soon.

Roberts Offers Some Positive Comments on Kershaw’s Status

7 Comments

  1. Allie’s 2018 stats are a little misleading. Pretty good at AA Tulsa. In 13 appearances at AAA, had given up only a total of 2 earned runs in 11 of those 13 appearances. The other two were a combined 0.1 innings pitched but gave up a total of 6 earned runs. Except for those 2 outings, he had made over 20 solid appearances at AA and above.

  2. I’m guessing sometime during the 2019 season, when there is an injury to one of our pitchers, Allie will pitch a few innings and will get sent back to the minors.

      1. In light of Kersh’s injury, it would not surprise me if someone from the BP might be called in on occasion to start a game. This might serve as a nice entry point for Allie to start his MLB career, in our BP. What better place to gain experience? Go Blue Crew!!!

  3. Uh why are we talking about a 28 year old, never has been with no control and no major league prospects?

    1. Stetson is only entering his 4th full season as a professional pitcher after the 6 years as a position player. A 28-year old pitcher is still considered to be in their prime vs younger age for hitters. There isn’t much mileage on an arm that can throw 100, which can’t be taught to other pitchers. While he has shown major control issues in the past, his progression over 4 years of pitching is fairly significant and he is demonstrating control currently, which has been the biggest flaw in the past on the mound. 28 isn’t 38, and he isn’t a 7 million dollar per year bullpen free agent option.

    2. Uhhh why are you talking at all when you can’t type English properly.

      Good read. I enjoy out of Cinderella type stories and am definitely routing for this guy. Thanks Brook.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button