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Dinos pitcher Logan Allen trying to make best of tough situation in 1st KBO season

Published: 15 May. 2025, 14:14 Updated: 18 May. 2025, 10:52

NC Dinos pitcher Logan Allen pitches during a KBO game against the Hanwha Eagles at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon on April 18. [NEWS1]

When American pitcher Logan Allen signed with the KBO's NC Dinos in December 2024, he most likely didn't imagine his new team would spend the entire month of April on the road.

The Dinos have been the road warriors since last playing at home, Changwon NC Park in the southeastern city of Changwon, on March 29. On that day, during a game against the LG Twins, an aluminum panel fell off a window of the Dinos' office at the stadium and struck a fan standing near a concession stand. The fan died of a head injury two days later.

The stadium was immediately closed down for extensive safety inspections, and the Dinos have yet to play at home since as local officials try to determine the timetable for the reopening. The Dinos have had to swap games with their opponents and play “home” games and bat last at a road stadium.

Allen, who has made only one regular-season start at Changwon NC Park, admitted spending so much time on the road after “a terrible tragedy” made his transition to the new league and the new country “a little hard at first.” But the 27-year-old also tried to look on the brighter side.

“I think it's making us better as a team. We're seeing a light at the end of the tunnel,” Allen told Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday before the Dinos faced the SSG Landers at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, some 30 kilometers west of Seoul. “We've gotten really close with our teammates. It definitely brings you a little closer to your teammates. It's an unfortunate way for that to happen.

“I think we've rallied around the fact that at first it was hard to get used to,” Allen continued. “We're always in the visiting environment. We have the cheering crowds from all the other teams, and we haven't gotten a chance to have ours. I think we've gotten past that, and now no matter where we're at, we've got to play.”

The Dinos have shaken off their tough early stretch, and they enjoyed a season-best seven-game winning streak earlier this month to jump from ninth to fourth in the standings.

Allen, too, is back on track in May after a rough April, during which he lost all five of his starts while posting a 6.08 ERA.

He opened the new month with his first scoreless start in the KBO, tossing seven shutout innings against the KT Wiz on May 5. Six days later, Allen was charged with one earned run in five innings against the Doosan Bears. He won both decisions.

NC Dinos pitcher Logan Allen [NC DINOS]

Allen said he finds KBO hitters to be “tough outs.”

“I've noticed that in the States, if I get a bad swing, a swing on a ball out of the zone, normally they don't make contact with it,” he said. “Here, there are certain guys that even if the ball's out of the zone, they'll make contact with it, and sometimes it's a hit. They don't give up. They're very tough at-bats, and they're very disciplined.

“I think in the United States, once I know your weakness, I can expose it,” Allen went on. “But in Korea, it's really hard for me to find these hitters' weaknesses because they're so good at making adjustments.”

Allen himself has had to adjust by “mixing up” his breaking balls and trying to find the strike zone as much as possible.

“The hitters in the KBO do a really good job of taking very close balls. So I have to be in the strike zone a little bit more,” said Allen, who has some experience in the U.S. pitching to a zone established by the automated ball-strike system (ABS). “I think it's caused my walks to be up lately. So my biggest adjustment is just being in the zone as much as I can.”

While Allen and his teammates are trying to be the best road warriors they can be, the Dinos' front office and staff have also been “doing the best they can.”

“They've been great at trying to keep our families in the loop and helping with that. But I don't think there's really too much the team can do. The team is kind of waiting just like we are,” Allen said. “It's tough on the staff not to be able to go home and see their families and kids. I think they're doing a pretty decent job of trying to get us back to Changwon for off days so that we're not just consistently on the road the entire time. I think that's been a big help.”

Yonhap