Major League Baseball announced that it has approved a roster change for the Guardians, with right-hander Alex Cobb replaced by fellow righty Ben Lively. MLB didn’t announce the specific nature of Cobb’s injury but the Guards announced it as an acute left low back strain. Per MLB playoff roster rules, a player removed with an injury is not eligible to return during that series nor in the subsequent series. That means that Cobb won’t be available for the World Series if Cleveland makes it, so his season is now over.
It’s an unfortunate development both for Cobb and the Guardians. The club acquired him prior to the deadline a few months ago in the hopes of bolstering their rotation, which had been slowed down both by injuries and underperformance. But Cobb had been having his own injury issues prior to the trade and struggled to stay healthy after it, which will impact his earning power as he heads into free agency this winter.
Cobb, 37, has a lengthy track record that includes a 3.84 earned run average in 233 starts dating back to his 2011 debut. He signed a two-year deal with the Giants for the 2022 and 2023 seasons and pitched rather well. He made 28 starts in each of those seasons, with his ERA coming in a bit below 4.00 in each of them. He tossed 301 innings in those two years with a 3.80 ERA, 22.1% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate and 59.4% ground ball rate.
He underwent hip surgery in October of 2023 with a six-month recovery estimate but the Giants still felt good enough about his prognosis to exercise a $10MM club option for the 2024 season. The news of his recovery was fairly positive throughout the winter and it seemed there was a chance that he could be pitching in the majors early in 2024, but he got transferred to the 60-day injured list in mid-April after he was slowed by shoulder inflammation. Even at that point, the Giants were hoping for a late-May return but his shoulder discomfort lingered.
He was still on the IL as the trade deadline was approaching but he was rehabbing at the time and the Guardians decided to take a shot on him, sending minor league left-hander Jacob Bresnahan and a player to be named later (later announced as minor league infielder Nate Furman) to San Francisco. The Guards had lost Shane Bieber to Tommy John surgery while hurlers like Triston McKenzie, Logan Allen and Carlos Carrasco had struggled badly. Despite the challenges in the rotation, the Cleveland bullpen was the best in baseball in 2024, helping them lead the American League Central for most of the way.
Cobb made his debut for the Guards on August 9 but only made two starts before going back on the IL, this time due to a fractured nail on his right hand. He was reinstated from the IL and made another start for Cleveland in early September but returned to the IL after that, this time due to blisters on his pitching hand.
Though he missed the final few weeks of the season, the Guards added Cobb to their roster for the ALDS against the Tigers. He started the third game of that series but was pulled after three innings, having thrown 41 pitches while allowing two earned runs. He then started the first game of the ALCS against the Yankees last night, tossing 65 pitches but without making it out of the third inning and with three earned runs on his ledger.
Now it seems this back injury will add to a very frustrating season for the veteran, as it’s evidently serious enough that they felt compelled to remove him. As mentioned, he won’t be eligible to return in the ALCS. If they make it to the World Series, he won’t be an option there either.
He’ll be heading into free agency having just turned 37 years old and without much of a platform season. Around the hip recovery, the shoulder problems, the hand issues and now this back strain, he only made the three regular season starts and two more in the postseason, logging a total of 22 innings.
For the Guardians, they will have to try to stay alive with their pitching depth thinned out even further. Without Cobb, they have Tanner Bibee, Matthew Boyd and Gavin Williams as their top three starters, with those three able to start the next three contests. By game five, scheduled for Saturday, they may have to consider a bullpen game, with guys like Joey Cantillo or Lively possibilities for bulk innings.
Lively, 32, had a solid year for the Guards in terms of surface-level results but less in terms of underlying numbers. He made 29 starts and logged 159 innings with a 3.81 ERA, but his 18.7% strikeout rate and 41.9% ground ball rate were both subpar. He did keep his walks down to a 7.8% clip and his 6.5% barrel rate was considered by Statcast to be in the 73rd percentile, but his 4.66 FIP and 4.58 SIERA suggest his ERA could be at least slightly misleading. Game two of the ALCS kicks off in the Bronx tonight at 7:38pm local time.
raisinsss
Dang, hope nothing is…
Torn on the Cobb…
I’ll see myself out now.
Lindor's Bodyguard
He’s no Ty Cobb.
sophiethegreatdane
There’s a kernel of truth here, but man—that’s a corny joke.
Acoss1331
Cobb is fighting old age at this point, it happens, but he’s a trooper for at least giving it a shot for the playoffs.
Rsox
I would not at all be surprised to see Cobb retire at seasons end
oscar gamble
Someone will offer him a contract. Why pass up one last paycheck?
Rsox
Because at some point no matter how willing the spirit, the body just can’t anymore. Not saying that’s where he’s at, but all of the rehabbing from the numerous injuries over his career has to get tiring
TerryTurnbuckle
A hockey player would never quit and would play though it during the playoffs. They’d give it a go even after getting amputated. Baseball is filled with betas. This disgusts me. I think I’ve watched my last game.
horaceallen
Yawn
TerryTurnbuckle
You wanna take this outside buddy?
chiefnocahoma1
Everyone knows you’re the beta, little fella.
CKinSTL
It’s not the player’s decision.
RodBecksBurnerAccount
It’s wild that Lively wasn’t on the roster to begin with. He was their best SP for stretches of the season, and second best SP overall.
layventsky
He surpassed his career high innings total during the regular season and was wearing down. Hopefully a couple weeks of rest helped him.
RodBecksBurnerAccount
“He was wearing down.”
He had a bit of a rough August, but September was one of his best months with an ERA of 3.15 in 5 GS.
RodBecksBurnerAccount
Also, he’s a 32 year old journeyman having a career year. There’s no reason to monitor his innings like he’s a young phenom. Let him eat. Plus his success is movement, not high velocity.
Samuel
RodBecksBurnerAccount;
I believe this was all discussed going into the playoffs, and am sure Mr. Cobb and Mr. Lively were made aware of the sutuation. The same as happened last night when manager Stephen Vogt rested his tired primary bullpen pitchers when the Guardians couldn’t close the run gap with the Yankees.
I know it may be surprising to many here, but the object is not to go all out to win every game – because no team in the history of MLB has ever come close to that. The object is to win a playoff spot, then each series. Unfortunately for many here, they don’t understand why every team in MLB isn’t successful at this every year – meaning…the players suck…the manager sucks……the FO sucks…..the owner(s) are cheap…..blah blah blah.
RodBecksBurnerAccount
WTF are you even rambling about lol
keeping your second best starting pitcher OFF THE ROSTER in no way makes any sense.
stymeedone
Lively was only the second best starter if you limit your self to the actual results, and that’s too old school to pass muster. The analytics show he doesn’t strike out enough people and would be terrible without fielders behind him. He would not be a great pickup for a fantasy league. His projections show that he never should have been this successful, so it’s best to argue with his success.
RodBecksBurnerAccount
So they started Cobb (who had 3 starts this year; 16.1 total innings) and lost both his starts in the postseason.
greatgame 2
Very injury prone. Hes done with a huge bank account
YankeesBleacherCreature
What happened to the $98MM that he’s made?
nosake
With Cobb, might want to check his BAL.
davemlaw
I think he tried rushing back too soon earlier this spring. He looked good and was ahead of schedule then got hurt again during rehab.
When he’s healthy he’s great. I’d love to see SFG bring him back on a make good contract, mid base with incentives, say $3M then goes up with games started/innings pitched. So long as his current injury isn’t serious.
The unfortunate truth is SFG should have passed on his $8M option coming off hip surgery. But FZ was always a sucker for a player with an injury and getting him at a value. Hopefully, wiser heads with prevail and they’ll pass on injury risks, like HS Kim.
just_thinkin
Classic
Sideline Redwine
We love Alex Cobb, a true gentleman who cares about the fans. Just a darn good, modest guy. But man, if he isn’t injured, he’s about to be injured. Solid career, but I wish his body would have held up.
Dumpster Divin Theo
These are the Salad days for Cobb it would seem
TrillionaireTeamOperator
I’m a Yankees fan. I saw his fingers in that one close up. All in all a solid pitcher, even injured. Even so- happy we beat him, sorry this might’ve been his last hurrah.
chemfinancing
That’s it bring in the heavies!
Non Roster Invitee
Alex ‘China doll” Cobb.
longines64
Adios to the Cobballero.
Dumpster Divin Theo
Meh. Throws more like Blake Lively.
Datashark
Cobb is he ain’t done, then he made himself one of the bargain basement free agents
JSubs
Cobb Webb would be better if exclusively threw the Roger Beshens Football Slider.