Greg Allen (baseball)

Professional career

Greg Allen was picked by the Cleveland Indians in the sixth round of the 2014 MLB draft. After signing, he went to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers for the entire 2014 season, where he hit .244 with 19 RBIs and 30 steals over 57 games. The next year, he played for the Lake County Captains, posting a .273/.368/.382 slash line with seven homers, 45 RBIs, and 43 stolen bases in 123 games, plus three games with the Lynchburg Hillcats. In 2016, Allen started with Lynchburg and later moved up to the Akron RubberDucks.

Combining both stops, he appeared in 129 games, batting .295 with seven home runs, 44 RBIs, 45 stolen bases, and an .830 OPS. That winter, the Indians sent him to the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League. He was reportedly part of a trade that would have sent him to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jonathan Lucroy, but the deal collapsed when Lucroy declined to waive his no-trade clause. Allen began 2017 back in Akron, and on September 1, he got called up to the majors.

Before that promotion, he had hit .264 with two homers, 24 RBIs, and 21 steals in 71 games for Akron. On September 7, he hit his first big league home run. The 2018 season started with the Columbus Clippers, and on May 27, he crushed his first MLB walk-off homer, a 14th-inning shot against the Astros. Later, on September 23, he singled in the bottom of the 11th to walk off the Red Sox.

San Diego Padres

He wrapped up the year with a .257 average and 21 stolen bases. On August 31, 2020, the Indians traded Allen, Mike Clevinger, and Matt Waldron to the San Diego Padres.

In return, Cleveland got Austin Hedges, Josh Naylor, Cal Quantrill, and minor leaguers Gabriel Arias, Owen Miller, and Joey Cantillo. Allen played just one game for San Diego before being sent to their alternate training site. On December 31, 2020, the Padres designated him for assignment after signing Ha-seong Kim.

Did You Know?

• Allen played collegiate summer baseball with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2013.
• He attended Hilltop High School in Chula Vista, California.
• He played college baseball for the San Diego State Aztecs.