Nick Allen DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

MLB.com's Mark Bowman feels that Atlanta Braves infielder Nick Allen could have the early edge to begin the 2025 season as the team's backup infielder over Christian Cairo, who was a Rule 5 pick from the Cleveland Guardians this offseason. Cairo needs to stay on the big-league roster all season unless the Braves want to risk losing him back to Cleveland. In addition to Allen, infielder Luke Williams' chances of making the Opening Day roster are helped by the fact that he's out of minor-league options. The Braves acquired Allen from the Athletics in November. The 26-year-old has hit only .209/.254/.283 in three major-league seasons, but he does impress with his glove and could also play second base in a pinch if Ozzie Albies is injured again in 2025. Bowman writes that Allen's bat conjures memories of former Braves infielder Rafael Belliard.

On Monday, the Atlanta Braves sent minor-league pitching prospect Jared Johnson to the Athletics in exchange for shortstop Nick Allen. Allen made his major league debut in 2022 but has failed to stick at the major league level due to his underperformance at the plate. He's got a career slashline of .209/.254/.283 with a 53 wRC+ in 760 MLB plate appearances (247 games). The 26-year-old has solid bat-to-ball skills, with an 80.6% contact rate at the major league level, but it hasn't translated to hits. That hasn't been the case in the minors, slashing .345/.431/.497 in 81 games at Triple-A last season. Still, it is his glove that makes him worthy of a major league roster spot if he can manage to at least hit better than .209. Orlando Arcia manned short for the Braves last season, but even his .218 BA with a 72 wRC+ was better than that. Johnson pitched to a 2.60 ERA in 52 relief innings last year at High-A Rome for the Braves and figures to be a bullpen arm as well whenever the 23-year-old gets a shot in the bigs.

Oakland Athletics utility player Nick Allen went 3-for-4 with a solo home run on Tuesday for Triple-A Las Vegas. This was just one of many outstanding performances from Allen in August. Through 17 games, he's gone 29-for-74 (.392 AVG) with eight doubles, five homers, 13 RBI, seven stolen bases, and 10:7 BB/SO. Allen started the 2024 season with the A's but was ultimately sent down in early May due to poor performance (.470 OPS). However, since being demoted, he's slashed .344/.427/.498 with 24 doubles, seven homers, 50 RBI, 16 steals, and 44:40 BB/SO. Though his first few stints in the majors have been rough, Allen clearly has enough talent to warrant some notoriety.