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Alex Cobb

Giants Activate Alex Cobb, Option Mauricio Llovera

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The Giants have activated Alex Cobb for his start today, as expected. In a corresponding move, Mauricio Llovera was optioned to Triple-A, per MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado (via Twitter).

Cobb made eight starts at the start of the campaign but struggled in terms of his bottom-line numbers with a 5.73 ERA. He also, however, posted an impressive 2.73 FIP over that same time span. This tends to balance itself out over the long haul, but the discrepancy is especially apparent over a small 37 2/3 inning total.

Bottom line is that the results when Cobb took the hill haven’t been great thus far, but there are definitely some positive things to take away from Cobb’s start. One potential mitigating factor is the neck strain, and we can certainly speculate about how long Cobb might have been afflicted. After posting a 3.98 ERA/2.20 FIP over his first five starts (a total of 20 1/3 innings), Cobb hit a wall in his final three, where his ERA jumped to 7.79 ERA over those 17 1/3 innings. His FIP remained relatively stable at 3.14, even during those supposed clunkers.

The FIP likely takes into account a solid 19-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio in those three starts. That’s a 25% strikeout rate and 5% walk rate, both of which are better than average for starters in 2022. But he also got clobbered in that time, yielding 24 hits and a pair of home runs as hitters slashed .338/.373/.493 on a .440 BABIP. That’s well above the .247/.315/.346 line on a .365 BABIP he was giving up in the five starts prior. If we just normalize that .440 BABIP down to .365 BABIP for those final three starts, the batting average against drops from .338 BA to .285 BA, and we can begin to see why FIP would think more highly of Cobb’s future.

Llovera, 26, made 11 appearances (one start), with a 4.66 ERA/4.69 FIP over 9 2/3 innings while serving up five hits and three walks against 10 strikeouts. He is in his first season with the Giants after signing as a free agent from the Phillies this past winter.

Giants Notes: Boyd, Wade Jr., Cobb

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Giants starter Matthew Boyd suffered a flexor strain while rehabbing from surgery, and he’ll now be shut down for at least four weeks, per MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado (via Twitter). Boyd is a free agent at the end of this season, and at this stage, one has to wonder what, if anything, Boyd will be able to offer the Giants this season. San Francisco signed Boyd as a free agent after he was released by the Tigers.

  • LaMonte Wade Jr.’s return, however, does appear imminent as the outfielder/first baseman has begun a rehab assignment. Wade Jr. is coming off a breakout season in 2021 in which he slashed .253/.326/.482 with 18 home runs over 381 plate appearances. It will be interesting to see where Wade Jr. fits in upon his return. The Giants mix and match with the best of them, but on the surface level, the lefty-swinging trio of Mike Yastrzemski, Joc Pederson, and Luis Gonzalez would seem to have the outfield covered for the time being. For that matter, veterans Brandon Belt and Tommy La Stella, also left-handers, have been taking at-bats at first base and designated hitter, respectively. Still, it’s a long season, and the Giants will no doubt find a way to return Wade Jr. to the mix when he’s ready.
  • Alex Cobb is set to make his return to the rotation on Sunday. A roster move will likely come sometime after tonight’s game. The Giants have thrived at regenerating former starters in low-power mode, but Cobb struggled through his first eight starts, serving up a 5.73 ERA, though a 2.63 FIP suggests he may have had some bad luck. He did, after all, post a strong 47-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 37 2/3 innings.

Giants Place Jakob Junis On 15-Day IL Due To Left Hamstring Strain

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3:57PM: Junis has been diagnosed with a more serious Grade 2 strain, The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly reports (Twitter link).

3:08PM: The Giants placed right-hander Jakob Junis on the 15-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain.  The injury occurred in last night’s game, as Junis had to be removed after slipping off the mound.  Outfielder Heliot Ramos has been called up from Triple-A to take Junis’ spot on the active roster.

More will be known about Junis’ recovery timeline once he undergoes an MRI, but the injury is obviously serious enough that the Giants went ahead with the IL placement even before more tests were conducted on the hamstring.  Junis will now miss at least the next 15 days, and potentially longer should the strain prove to be a higher-grade issue.

After signing a one-year, $1.75MM free agent deal with San Francisco in March, Junis has seemingly become the latest pitcher to enjoy a career revival in the Bay Area.  Junis posted a 5.36 ERA over 240 innings with the Royals from 2019-21, but has thus far pitched to a 2.63 ERA, 47.8% grounder rate, and a 5.3% walk rate over 48 frames in 2022.  Advanced metrics (particularly a .231 BABIP, and a .266 wOBA that is far beneath his .325 xwOBA) indicate that some regression is probably inevitable, but it has nevertheless been a very solid start in terms of bottom-line numbers for the 29-year-old Junis.

This performance has helped stabilize a Giants rotation hurt by injuries, as Alex Cobb and Anthony DeSclafani are both still on the IL and Matthew Boyd has yet to pitch this season.  On that front (hat tip to MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado), Cobb still just in the playing-catch phase as he recovers from a neck strain, while DeSclafani is set to begin a rehab assignment.  DeSclafani was moved to the 60-day IL due to ankle inflammation, and can’t be activated until June 21.  Boyd underwent flexor tendon surgery back in September and has advanced to the point where he will be facing hitters in a live batting-practice session.

Sam Long was already added to the roster to help out the rotation, and since the Giants have an off-day on June 16, they might be able to manage this lack of a fifth starter until DeSclafani is able to be reinstated.  If not, the Giants could turn to a bullpen game, as is the plan for today’s game against the Dodgers.

Injury Notes: Strasburg, Adrianza, Cobb, Mills

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The Nationals will welcome back Stephen Strasburg for his season debut on Thursday, manager Dave Martinez told reporters (including Jessica Camerato of MLB.com). The three-time All-Star is back after making a trio of minor league rehab starts, and Thursday’s outing will be his first MLB appearance in a bit more than a calendar year. Strasburg last took a big league mound at Atlanta’s Truist Park on June 1, 2021, an appearance he left with neck irritation. A little less than two months later, he underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, and he missed the first couple months of this season continuing his rehab from that procedure.

The 2019 World Series MVP has made just seven MLB starts since signing a seven-year, $245MM contract the offseason after the Nationals’ World Series title. Strasburg is making $35MM annually through 2026, an investment that looks regrettable in light of his recent health woes. The Nats are desperate for rotation help, though, and they’d welcome anything close to Strasburg’s pre-2020 form. Each of Patrick Corbin, Joan Adon, Josiah Gray and Erick Fedde has an ERA of 4.71 or higher thus far.

Strasburg makes his season debut a couple days after infielder Ehire Adrianza, who was reinstated from the 60-day injured list before today’s game. The Nats already had a vacancy on the 40-man roster, and Lucius Fox was optioned out in a corresponding move. Adrianza signed a $1.5MM deal over the winter but suffered a Spring Training quad strain that cost him the first couple months of the season. The switch-hitting utiltiyman had a .247/.327/.401 showing as a part-time player for the Braves last year.

The latest on some other injury situations around the game:

  • The Giants placed starter Alex Cobb on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 4, with a neck strain. San Francisco recalled Sam Long to take the veteran righty’s spot on the active roster. It doesn’t seem the organization’s particularly concerned about Cobb’s status, as manager Gabe Kapler told reporters the team is hopeful he can return when first eligible for next weekend’s series in Pittsburgh (via Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic). Signed to a two-year, $20MM guarantee over the offseason, Cobb has had a strange first season in the Bay Area. He owns career-best marks in both strikeout percentage (28.7%) and ground-ball rate (65.4%), but he’s nevertheless posted a 5.73 ERA through his first eight starts.
  • Alec Mills made his season debut this evening, as the Cubs reinstated him from the 60-day injured list before tonight’s matchup against the Orioles. Chicago had a temporary extra 40-man roster spot after placing reliever Chris Martin on the restricted list over the weekend. Martin has been on bereavement leave for more than the allotted seven days, and he won’t count against the 40-man roster for any additional time he needs to spend away from the team. Mills tossed 119 innings for the Cubs last season, working to a 5.07 ERA while starting 20 of his 32 appearances. The 30-year-old doesn’t throw hard or miss many bats, but he fills up the strike zone and induced grounders on a bit more than half of batted balls last year. He missed the first two months of the season with a lower back strain.

Giants Activate Alex Cobb From 10-Day Injured List

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May 1: The Giants announced Cobb’s activation to reporters, including Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle, with Kervin Castro being optioned in a corresponding move.

Apr. 30: The Giants will activate right-hander Alex Cobb from the 10-day injured list prior to Sunday’s game against the Nationals, San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado).  Cobb is scheduled to make his third start of the season.

Returning Sunday will put Cobb’s IL stint slightly beyond the 10-day minimum, as his placement came in between games of the Giants’ doubleheader with the Mets on April 19.  Cobb started the first game and lasted 4 1/3 innings before being removed after a mound visit from the team trainer.

The Giants have had to deal with several absences in the early going, due to both injuries and a minor COVID-19 outbreak on the roster.  The position player side has been hardest hit, though both Cobb and Anthony DeSclafani (right ankle inflammation) have missed time, and DeSclafani isn’t expected to return for at least a few more weeks.  Fortunately for San Francisco, the rest of the rotation has picked up the slack, with Logan Webb, Carlos Rodon, and Alex Wood all ranging from good to great thus far in 2022.  The Giants have also gotten good results from the opener/bulk pitcher combo of Sam Long and Jakob Junis.

Cobb is in his first season in San Francisco, signing a two-year, $20MM free agent deal with the Giants just prior to the lockout.  Injuries have hampered Cobb over the last three seasons, though he pitched well when healthy last year with the Angels, delivering a 3.76 ERA and some solid secondary numbers over 93 1/3 innings.

Giants Place Alex Cobb On Injured List

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Between the two games of last night’s doubleheader, the Giants made a roster move, announcing that right-hander Alex Cobb had been placed on the 10-day IL with a right adductor strain. Fellow righty Yunior Marte was recalled to take his place on the roster.

Cobb had started the opening match of the doubleheader, but was pulled after throwing 60 pitches over 4 1/3 innings, escorted by the club’s trainer. Cobb himself didn’t seem especially worried about the injury, as relayed by Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic and Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. That suggests that Cobb could stay on the IL for the 10-day minimum or something close to it. Signed to a two-year, $20MM deal (plus a club option) just before the lockout, the 34-year-old has made two starts on the season thus far, logging 9 1/3 innings with a 4.82 ERA, 35% strikeout rate and 5% walk rate.

Even if he isn’t out for long, the timing of the injury is a bit awkward for the club. They are in the middle of a stretch where they play 14 games in 13 days, thanks to yesterday’s twin bill. They don’t have an off day until next Thursday, April 28th. Logan Webb started the second game yesterday and is lined up to throw on regular rest on the 24th. The next three days will see Carlos Rodon, Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood take the hill, with a starter needed to pitch on the 23rd and likely one more start beyond that.

As for Marte, the 27-year-old made his MLB debut earlier this year and now has two scoreless innings on his big league résumé.

Giants Sign Alex Cobb

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The Giants have continued to build their rotation by signing right-hander Alex Cobb.  The Beverly Hills Sports Council client signed a two-year contract worth $20MM in guaranteed money, and Cobb is set to earn $9MM in each of the 2022 and 2023 seasons.  San Francisco also holds a $10MM club option on Cobb for 2024, with a $2MM buyout.

Cobb spent the 2021 campaign in Orange County, after the Angels acquired him from the Orioles last winter. It was an eyebrow-raising move at the time, since Cobb had struggled with both injuries and underperformance over his three seasons in Baltimore. The ten-year big league veteran rewarded the organization’s faith, though, tossing 93 1/3 innings of 3.76 ERA/3.83 SIERA ball across 18 starts.

Along the way, Cobb generated more whiffs than he ever had before. His 11.2% swinging strike rate and 24.9% strikeout percentage were both career-best marks, each checking in a touch above the respective league averages for starting pitchers. Cobb paired that uptick in whiffs with his typically robust ground-ball tendencies (53.3%) and solid control (8.4% walk rate) en route to a nice season.

Cobb’s run prevention numbers were partially propped up by one of the league’s lowest home run rates (0.48 per nine innings). It’s unlikely he’ll continue to be quite that successful keeping the ball in the yard moving forward. But Cobb’s blend of average or better whiffs, control and grounders should allow him to be a solid back-of-the-rotation option even if his homer rate regresses. The bigger concern might lie in his health, as he had separate injured list stints this past season due to blisters and right wrist inflammation. Cobb didn’t seem any worse for wear after returning from his time on the IL, though, with the velocity on all of his offerings remaining intact during his final few outings of the year.

The Giants entered the offseason known to be targeting rotation help. Only Logan Webb remained under club control from the team’s primary five this past season. They’ve already re-signed Anthony DeSclafani and reportedly were nearing agreement to bring Alex Wood back. Kevin Gausman’s departure to the Blue Jays leaves one prominent vacancy, though, and teams often have to rely on seven or eight starters to navigate the injury attrition of a full season.

There’s still room for further additions to the rotation, and there should be plenty of spending capacity with which to do so. Cobb’s two-year, $20MM guarantee narrowly tops MLBTR’s two-year, $16MM forecast entering the winter.

The Giants now have a little more than $113MM in estimated 2022 commitments, according to Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. For a franchise that has logged player payrolls in the $200MM range in the past, a fairly modest Cobb signing shouldn’t be especially prohibitive to the club’s future goals.

Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link) first reported that the deal was being finalized, and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported the club was making a strong run at the right-hander last week.  The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter) reported the $20MM figure, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic (Twitter link) reported the existence of the option year, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweeted the salary breakdown.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Giants In Discussions With Alex Cobb

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The Giants are in talks with free-agent righty Alex Cobb and appear to be making a “strong push” to sign the veteran righty, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). Cobb is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

If a deal is indeed finalized, Cobb would fill one of four rotation vacancies for a San Francisco club that saw each of Kevin Gausman, Alex Wood, Anthony DeSclafani and Johnny Cueto reach free agency at season’s end.

The 34-year-old Cobb had something of a resurgence with the Angels last season after being acquired in an offseason deal that sent minor league infielder Jahmai Jones to Baltimore. Injuries still hampered Cobb — as has oft been the case in his career — with a wrist issue and blisters combining to limit him to 93 1/3 frames. However, when healthy, Cobb was the best he’s been in years, pitching to a 3.76 ERA with a 24.9% strikeout rate, an 8.4% walk rate and a huge 53.3% ground-ball rate.

In fact, in some regards, the 2021 season was Cobb’s best as a big leaguer. While the workload wasn’t as large as he or the Angels would’ve liked, Cobb posted career-best marks in strikeout percentage, swinging-strike rate (11.2%) and opponents’ chase rate (34.6%).

That 2021 output marked a stark turnaround for Cobb, who pitched just 217 total innings during three years with the Orioles after signing a four-year, $57MM contract in advance of the 2018 campaign — the final major acquisition from Baltimore before the eventual housecleaning and rebuild process got underway that summer. Given that Cobb’s last run through free agency lingered until Spring Training was well underway, it makes sense that he’d push for an earlier deal a second time around. Both Cobb and the Angels had publicly expressed interest in a reunion, but that looks decidedly unlikely now.

As alluded to above, Cobb would be just one of many pieces needed to complete a wide-open starting pitching puzzle at Oracle Park. In addition to the quartet of open spots behind homegrown star Logan Webb, Cobb has reached 100 innings in just two of the past seven seasons. While any team signing Cobb would surely hope for better health, it’s not something that can be banked upon given a laundry list of physical ailments that have piled up in recent years.

From a payroll vantage point, the Giants ought to have little issue adding Cobb into the fold. Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez projects a $97MM payroll at present, and Cobb should command a good bit less than the $14.25MM annual salary he received on that last contract with the Orioles. MLBTR ranked Cobb 39th on our Top 50 Free Agent list, pegging for a two-year, $16MM contract.

Cardinals Want To Bring Back Luis Garcia, Add Rotation Arm

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The Cardinals are working to re-sign late-inning reliever Luis Garcia after the hard-throwing righty’s breakout season in St. Louis, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Even if the Cardinals do bring back Garcia, they will still target at least one additional potential high leverage reliever. Alex Reyes handled much of the high leverage workload last year, but they’d like to give Reyes an opportunity to claim a rotation spot.

As for Garcia, he has long struggled with his command, but he held it together for a career-low 5.9 percent walk rate in his 34 appearances with the Cardinals last season. That kind of control with a sinking fastball averaging more than 98 mph is a killer combination that helped Garcia notch a 25.2 percent strikeout rate and 3.24 ERA/2.72 FIP in 33 1/3 innings. His innings weren’t cheap ones either, as Garcia managed to save a pair of games and preserve leads enough to earn 12 holds.

Along with Garcia and another late inning arm, Goold also mentions sinkerballing starters like Steven Matz or Alex Cobb as a potential target for the Cardinals. Both are coming off relatively strong seasons and would likely benefit from pitching in front of the Gold Glove laden infield in St. Louis. The Cardinals have starting options with Dakota Hudson coming back from Tommy John and Reyes potentially moving into the rotation, but with deadline acquisitions Jon Lester and J.A. Happ now free agents, there are a fair number of innings to go around.

No Extension Talks Yet Between Angels, Alex Cobb

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Alex Cobb made his final start of the season this afternoon, allowing five runs over as many innings in a loss to the Rangers. It’s possible that was his last outing in a Los Angeles uniform, as Cobb is slated to hit free agency this winter. After the outing, the right-hander expressed a desire to stick around in Anaheim beyond this year though.

Cobb told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) that while there’s not yet been any talk between the club and his representatives at Beverley Hills Sports Council, he believes both sides are amenable to extending their relationship. “We both have the understanding that there’s mutual respect there and mutual desire to reunite next year,” Cobb said. “We haven’t had those talks yet, but it’s obviously something I’d be really happy to do.”

Mutual interest in a reunion doesn’t guarantee anything will get done, of course, but it’s nonetheless the first step in any potential extension. It’s not particularly surprising the Angels would like to keep Cobb in the fold, as he posted a quietly strong first season in Anaheim (today’s start notwithstanding).

The Angels drew some criticism last offseason when they traded one-time top prospect Jahmai Jones to land Cobb from the Orioles. General manager Perry Minasian and his staff were rewarded for their faith in the veteran hurler, as he worked to a 3.76 ERA across 93 1/3 innings this season. A pair of injured list stints (one because of a blister, the other due to wrist inflammation) limited Cobb to nineteen starts, but he posted generally strong results when healthy.

Cobb backed up his sub-4.00 ERA with quality peripherals. He punched out a career-best 24.9% of opponents while handing out free passes at only an 8.4% rate. Always one of the game’s better pitchers at keeping the ball on the ground, he racked up grounders at a 53.8% clip that’s more than ten percentage points above the league average. Cobb’s 3.78 SIERA (prior to today’s start) lands right in line with his actual run prevention figure.

Soon to turn 34 years old, Cobb looks to have a real case to land a multi-year deal this winter. That didn’t seem particularly likely just a few months ago, as the first three years of his free agent contract with the Orioles didn’t go well. Between 2018-20, he tossed 217 innings of 5.10 ERA/5.22 FIP ball in Baltimore. Cobb candidly acknowledged when speaking with reporters today he’d once feared those struggles could soon limit his chances to continue playing, but he’s flipped that script with a strong showing in Anaheim.

Potential suitors — the Angels included — will have to determine precisely how much to buy into Cobb’s renewed success. His repertoire wasn’t much different than it had been in recent seasons. Cobb continued to lean on his sinker (40%), split (37%) and curveball (16%) while occasionally mixing in a four-seam fastball, as he had in Baltimore. His pitch velocity, spin and movement haven’t changed much. But Cobb has excelled at avoiding the heart of the plate and getting opposing hitters to chase pitches outside the strike zone, leading to a personal-best 11.6% swinging strike rate.

Cobb certainly benefitted from a bit of good fortune in the home run department. Even after coughing up two long balls against Texas today, his season-long HR/9 mark winds up at just 0.48. Teams wouldn’t be able to count on Cobb being quite that successful at keeping the ball in the yard moving forward, but he did execute pitches consistently enough on the whole to put together a quality bounceback season.

As is typically the case, the Angels look likely to target rotation help over the offseason. Shohei Ohtani will continue to star in his two-way role, and Patrick Sandoval earned a spot in next season’s group before suffering a season-ending back injury. José Suarez will likely hold down a spot as well, but Cobb’s departure would still leave at least two spots in the rotation to be addressed. Griffin Canning remains on hand, and top prospect Reid Detmers should get another chance at some point in the year. But injuries and/or underperformance often force teams to lean on seven or eight starters over the course of a season. Adding some veteran certainty to that group, whether Cobb or external upgrades, figures to a top priority for Minasian and his staff yet again.

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