Athletics' Nick Allen: Producing early with Aviators
Allen, who went 1-for-4 with two stolen bases in Triple-A Las Vegas' win over Reno on Wednesday, is hitting .400 (8-for-20) over the five games he's played for the Aviators since being demoted June 6.
A rough stint against big-league arms that saw Allen slash an anemic .167/.205/.167 across his last 15 games with the Athletics prompted the move back down to the farm. Allen struck out at just a 15.6 percent clip in that span, but a minuscule 9.1 percent line-drive rate helped lead to an atypically low .200 BABIP during the stretch. Now back in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, the 24-year-old looks like a different player, already racking up a trio of multi-hit efforts and four extra-base hits during his brief return. Allen owns a .354 average and .973 OPS at the Triple-A level overall this season (95 plate appearances), and given Oakland's non-contending status, he's a virtual lock to get another look in the majors before season's end if he continues to thrive.
