UPDATE: Logan Allen was selected in the 8th round (231st overall) by the Boston Red Sox on Day 2 of the MLB Draft.
Coming out of high school, Jon Lester was projected to be a second-round pick in the 2002 MLB Amateur Draft. He was ranked the No. 11 overall high school prospect by Perfect Game. Similarly, Logan Allen is a left-handed high school pitching prospect who is poised to be selected in the second- or third-round of the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft. The 18-year-old is currently ranked No. 69 overall among the country's high school prospects (the sixth overall left-handed pitcher) by Perfect Game and the No. 128 overall prospect (among college and high school athletes) by Baseball America.
He's not quite as high up the draft list as Lester was, but there are other striking similarities.
In fact, Allen is pretty familiar with the veteran pitcher.
"My favorite player is a guy named Jon Lester, he plays for the Chicago Cubs," Allen told HNGN in an exclusive interview. "He's always been my favorite. He's definitely a guy I look up to and a pitcher I want to be like."
Back in 2002, Lester, standing at 6' 2", 190 lbs., had already committed to Arizona State University, but the Boston Red Sox swooped in when the time was right. After taking him 57th overall (16th in the second round), Boston offered Lester a $1 million signing bonus and he forwent college to begin his career in the Red Sox's farm system.
Allen, standing at 6' 3", 200 lbs., committed to the University of South Carolina, but if he gets taken in a favorable spot in this year's draft he's likely to forgo his college years and begin his career as a professional baseball player. In fact, the Red Sox even see a little Lester in Allen ... actually, maybe a lot.
"The Red Sox are one of the teams talking to me now and they don't call me by my name - they always call me Lester," he said.
"We both even kind of have the same face. When I wore a hat at the East Coast Pro Showcase a lot of the guys were making jokes because I literally looked just like him."
Wait a minute. Let's not get carried away here. Lester is a two-time World Series champion and Allen hasn't even been drafted yet. He might not even turn professional come June 8 because it all depends at what point and by what team he's selected. ESPN Insider Keith Law left him off his top 100 MLB draft prospects list earlier this week, which may not help his value (the third round ends with pick No. 104).
Perhaps the left-hander is being overlooked by scouts and pundits.
Allen is no stranger to America's pastime. He started playing organized baseball when he was five years old. The sport came natural, which is no surprise because Allen comes from a family of athletes – his grandfather and father played in the NHL (for the Canadiens and Bruins) and his mother was a Miami Dolphins cheerleader.
Playing baseball was the thing to do growing up in North Carolina. In his hometown of Fletcher, young Logan started off in Buncombe County Little League and by the time he started high school ball at T.C. Roberson, he was the only freshman on the varsity squad. However, he left for the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, after his sophomore year because he wanted to take his game to new heights.
IMG Academy is a sports academy that specializes in athletic development. It consists of over 450 acres of facilities as well as some of the top coaches and trainers in the nation. However, that doesn't mean Allen wasn't committed to his academics over the past two years.
"My mom always said, 'You're going to college and getting a degree. Your grades better be up, only As and Bs or else no baseball,'" Allen distinctly recalled. "I've always been academically strong and never had issues in the classroom. It's who I am."
Allen backs that up with a 3.9 GPA among coursework that features college prep and AP classes. His favorite courses are history and marine biology. Interestingly enough, his most admired historical figure is Napoleon Bonaparte. Say what you want about the polarizing Frenchman, but his leadership capabilities were perhaps unrivaled during his lifetime, which is a quality Allen respects as captain of his team. He helped them finish the season ranked No. 6 in the nation.
IMG Academy's class schedule is comparable to that of a university's. Allen wakes up at around 7:45 a.m. and has class from 9:00 until 11:30 (two one-hour and 10-minute classes). He then has time in between to eat and do some homework before he has to be on the baseball field at 1:15 p.m. Practice typically runs until 4:00 and then he hits the weight room from 4:30 until about 5:45, where he trains with coach Will Townsley, who previously worked with the U.S. Marine Corps as well as the Atlanta Braves.
But the day still isn't over.
Logan will run to get something to eat after his weight room session, and after that it's back to work. IMG Academy provides academic assistance from 6:30 until 8:00 where students can get one-on-one help from a teacher or a tutor, which is essential during the baseball season due to Logan's packed schedule. He gets the help he needs and then heads home to finish any leftover schoolwork.
The 18-year-old maintained his 3.9 GPA while accumulating a 9-0 record with a 0.87 ERA and 73 strikeouts in nine outings (48 innings) during his senior year at IMG. That's about as good as it gets, especially when compared to top-ranked fellow high school pitching prospects Mike Nikorak (2-1 with a 1.82 ERA), Ashe Russell (8-1 with a 0.88 ERA) and Donny Everett (9-1 with a 0.94 ERA), among others.
Allen's success was also predicated on his strict throwing schedule.
Let's say he had a start on a Friday: he would throw a bullpen session on Monday and then conduct a light weightlifting workout; on Tuesday he'd endure a routine baseball practice, but wouldn't lift afterward; Wednesday would be a day of long toss and heavy lifting; he then gets Thursday off before his start on Friday. And just because the weekend is approaching doesn't mean it's time to kick back and relax.
Saturday is the most strenuous day of the week for Allen. Townsley works him extra hard because he'll have Saturday night and all of Sunday off. These few hours consist of conditioning along with a big leg workout - squats, lunges, deadlifts, etc. – following a long week of physical and mental preparation.
Allen gave up the traditional high school experience and left his friends back home in North Carolina to endure a strictly scheduled lifestyle at the IMG Academy. While he misses some things about being back home attending Roberson, Allen has no regrets with his decision to take his game to the next level.
"This was the best thing I could have done for my baseball career. My friends back home, they're my true friends and a lot of them definitely understand why I did it. But I do miss a little bit of the atmosphere of the old high school life. Here at IMG it's kids from all over the country, it's kind of like a boarding school. We don't have that fan base or those students coming out to support you. My old school had around 1,500 kids and we'd have like 400 kids at every game going crazy. I loved that. Playing for a state championship, down here you can't do that. I adjusted well though. I love it here. It's one of the best things I've ever done for myself and I'm thankful."
The hard work has certainly paid off. Allen's fastball has topped out at 94 miles per hour (he sits in the 91-92 range for the most part) and he's just turned 18 years old in late May. Aside from the fastball, his curveball (78 mph) is his next best pitch and he's confident enough to throw it for a strike at any point in the count. A recent Perfect Game scouting report described his curve as having hard spin and depth. He also has a changeup (77 mph) that the same report finds is "still developing" and he added a slider (78 mph) to his arsenal this past season.
Allen's stuff isn't too far off from the aforementioned high school pitching prospects. Take a look:
Nikorak: FB (92-95 mph); CB (78); CH (77); SL (72)
Everett: FB (93-96 mph); CB (78); CH (81); SL (80)
Russell: FB (92-95 mph); CB (82); CH (84); SL (80)
*All stats provided by the most recent Perfect Game recordings.
It's been a long road for Allen and he has not forgotten those along the way who have been critical to his development as a pitcher. After all, the left-hander didn't start taking the mound until he was almost 13 years old because he was a reliable first baseman and one of the best hitters on his teams growing up. Somebody must have discovered his potential at the position, right?
That man was Darren Holmes, who coached Allen back in North Carolina during his days of 11U and 12U baseball. When Allen first stepped on the mound to formally throw at age 12, it was Holmes who told him he had the body, arm and mechanics to be a pitcher. As a result, the youngster continued pitching and he liked it, soon discovering it could be something legitimate to pursue.
Holmes is now the bullpen coach of the Colorado Rockies, for whom he pitched professionally with from 1993-97.
Another integral influence was Donnie Suttles, who was Allen's head coach at Roberson. Suttles is now a territorial scout for the San Francisco Giants. He lived near Allen's family in North Carolina and the left-hander frequently went to him for pitching advice.
Holmes and Suttles, among others, helped Allen take his game to the next level – and fast. He played summer ball with the Evoshield Canes in 2014 and that snowballed into him receiving offers from just about every notable college baseball program across the country: Virginia, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Florida, Ole Miss, Stanford, UCLA, San Diego, Arizona and South Carolina (where he ultimately committed).
"It was never my dream school growing up," Allen admitted. "I always wanted to be a [Florida] Gator. I visited the University of Florida, but it just didn't feel right. Florida was always my dream school, but when it came down to it I liked South Carolina more, which was something I never expected."
College was once a priority on Allen's life checklist. When he was a freshman in high school he felt that college was the next step to propel his baseball career.
Now a few years later with the draft looming, that has changed.
"As soon as I committed to college as a senior I thought, 'Here's the next step: What can I do to get drafted by a professional team? How can I get better?' That's the next thing I can do for myself.
"You never know. I could be hearing my named called on June 8."
If all goes as planned, maybe someday people might start telling Jon Lester he looks a bit like Logan Allen.
The 2015 MLB Draft will take place from June 8-10. It will be televised on MLB Network and can be streamed live on MLB.com.
As you prepare for this year's event, check out A Day in the Life of Logan Allen, brought to you by Baseball America.
