Alex Cobb

Alexander Miller Cobb (born October 7, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2011 through 2017, missing the 2015 season due to injury.

Alex Cobb
Cobb with the Baltimore Orioles in 2019
Baltimore Orioles – No. 17
Pitcher
Born: (1987-10-07) October 7, 1987
Boston, Massachusetts
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 1, 2011, for the Tampa Bay Rays
MLB statistics
(through August 11, 2020)
Win–loss record54–53
Earned run average3.83
Strikeouts697
Teams

Early life

Cobb was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Lindsay Miller-Cobb and Rick Cobb.[1] He lived in North Reading, Massachusetts, for the first two years of his life, when his family relocated to Vero Beach, Florida, due to employment.[1][2][3] As a youth, Cobb served as a batboy for the Los Angeles Dodgers at Holman Stadium in Vero Beach for three years of spring training. He grew up a Boston Red Sox fan.[1]

He graduated from Vero Beach High School in 2006. Cobb committed to play college baseball at Clemson.[4]

Professional career

Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays selected Cobb in the fourth round of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft.[5]

2011 season

Cobb was called up to the majors for the first time on May 1, 2011, and he made his major league debut that day. He was optioned back to the minors after the game.[6] On May 31, Cobb was recalled back to the majors.[7] On June 7, Cobb earned his first major league victory while starting for the Rays. Cobb pitched for 6​1⁄3 innings and the Rays defeated the Angels 4–1.[8] In late July, Cobb began to experience numbness and swelling in his right arm. After an August 5 start, he required surgery to repair a blood clot in his chest and remove one of his ribs, which had caused the blood clot. The two surgeries ended his 2011 season.[9]

2012 season

Cobb was invited to spring training in 2012, but sent to minor league camp to begin the season.[10] Cobb was called up to fill in for Jeff Niemann while Niemann was injured.[2] On August 23, 2012, Cobb pitched his first career complete game shutout against the Oakland Athletics.[11] He did not lose in his first seven starts, and ended the season with a 3-2 record and a 3.42 ERA in nine games started at the major league level.[5]

2013 season
Cobb being lifted onto a stretcher after being struck by a line drive, June 15, 2013.

On May 10, 2013, Cobb struck out four batters in a single inning.[12] He also gave up one run in that inning after the batter stole second base, third base, and was then balked home for the first time in recorded baseball.[13]

Cobb was struck in the head by a line drive off the bat of Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer on June 15, 2013. Cobb left the field on a stretcher, and was transported to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was reported that Cobb suffered a mild concussion and had a cut on his right ear, while all other scans and tests came back normal, and he would be released the next day.[14] Cobb would miss two months, making his return on August 15.[15] In 22 starts of 2013, Cobb finished the year 11-3 with a 2.76 ERA.

2014 season

One year later, Cobb endorsed a product designed to help protect young ball players from similar injuries: the isoBLOX padded cap insert. The insert, a skull cap which fits underneath adjustable or stretch caps, is based on the same technology Major League Baseball approved for on-field use in January 2014.[16]

"If boys and girls start wearing protective inserts, it will become second nature for them when they’re older," Cobb said. "I want to be a part of the evolution toward introducing this successfully at the big league level and I think the best way to do it is by starting at youth ages," he said. "My optimism is through the roof. The biggest thing is to further the process for technology to catch up, where we can wear it without altering mechanics or comfort—this is the best step."[17] In 2014, Cobb went 10-9 with a 2.87 ERA in 27 starts.

2015 season

To begin the 2015 season, Cobb was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to right forearm tendinitis.[18] On May 5, 2015, it was revealed that his elbow was diagnosed with a partial tear of the UCL.[19] Three days later, it was announced that he would undergo Tommy John surgery, therefore ending his 2015 season.[20]

2016 season

Cobb began the 2016 season on the 60-day disabled list. He returned to the Rays rotation towards the end of the season but was not very effective. In five starts, Cobb posted an 8.59 ERA.[21]

2017 season

Since Cobb returned from Tommy John surgery, he completely changed the usage of his pitches. Due to the health of his arm and his rehabilitation program, Cobb is not allowed to throw his split-finger fastball, his most dominant and often used pitch. Cobb went back to using his four-seam fastball and an improved, and more commonly used, curveball.[22] Due to the success of Cobb's first 10 starts of the 2017 season (3.82 ERA) and his impending free-agency, the Rays were reported to be shopping the starter if they were to fall out of the playoff race or if they felt they had the depth to lose Cobb.[23][24] After the injury to Matt Andriese and the poor play of Blake Snell coupled with Cobb's flashes of high potential, the Rays stated that they were not actively shopping Cobb, instead planning on utilizing him as a key piece for the regular season and playoffs.[25] After a poor May and early June, Cobb showed signs of brilliance, constantly pitching late into games, getting weak contact, and consistently keeping his pitch count down. Between June 9 and July 26, Cobb recorded 9 quality starts in 10 games, pitching 7 or more innings in 6 of those games. In that stretch, he went 5-1 and lowered his era from 4.52 to 3.46, even flirting with a no-hitter through 7 innings against the Pirates.[26] After a strong year from Cobb, he was named the winner of Paul C. Smith champion award, which goes to the Rays player who best exemplifies the spirit of true professionalism on and off the field. Cobb ended the season 12-10 with a 3.66 ERA in a 177 innings.

Baltimore Orioles

On March 20, 2018, Cobb agreed to a 4-year deal worth $57 million with the Baltimore Orioles. The deal was finalized on March 21.

2018 season

On September 23, he aggravated a blister, keeping him out for the remainder of the season.[27] He finished the first season of his 4 year contract with a 5-15 record in 28 starts, striking out 102 batters and a 4.90 ERA. He struck out 102 batters in ​152 1⁄3 innings.

2019 season

On March 13, 2019, the team announced that Cobb would be the team's Opening Day starter.[28] A week later, he was placed on the 10 day disabled list to start the season.[29] He was placed on the disabled list for a third time on April 28 with a lumbar strain.[30] At the time of the injury, Cobb had allowed 9 home runs in ​12 1⁄3 innings. He was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on May 22. On June 11, it was revealed Cobb needed to undergo hip surgery, and he was ruled out for the rest of the season.

In 2019, balls hit against him had the highest average exit velocity (94.9 mph) of those hit against all major league pitchers, and he gave up the highest percentage of hard-hit balls in MLB (60.0%).[31] For the season, he was 0-2 with a 10.95 ERA.

Pitching style

Cobb throws four pitches: a four-seam fastball and sinker averaging about 93 mph, a knuckle curve in the low 80s, and a splitter in the high 80s. More than half of his pitches with 2 strikes are splitters. He tends to throw more four-seamers and splitters to right-handed hitters, but batters from both sides of the plate see a fair amount of all of his pitches.[32]

Personal life

Cobb proposed to his girlfriend, Kelly Reynolds, in February 2014 at the Discovery Cove in Orlando.[33]

Cobb's brother, R. J., is a United States Army captain who served in the Iraq War and earned a Purple Heart.[1][2] R. J. is four years older than Alex. Their mother, a nurse practitioner, died in December 2005 as the result of two strokes.[34]

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See also

References
  1. "Cobb: 'Really cool' pitching against hometown Sox". Comcast SportsNet – CSNNE.com. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  2. "Alex Cobb grows into a Tampa Bay Ray despite his Red Sox upbringing". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  3. "Smitty on Baseball » Blog Archive » Ex-North Reading resident and Tampa pitcher Alex Cobb grew up through tragedy". eagletribune.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  4. Hissey, Tyler (June 2, 2008). "Cobb Anchors Catfish Rotation". Rays Digest. 247Sports.com. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  5. "Boston Red Sox – Hometown winner Alex Cobb lost in Red Sox-Rays scuffle". The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  6. Chastain, Bill (May 30, 2011). "Rays option Cobb back to Durham". raysbaseball.com Notebook. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  7. Chastain, Bill; Chiang, Anthony (May 30, 2011). "Rays call up Cobb for Tuesday start". raysbaseball.com Notebook. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  8. Marc Topkin, St. Petersburg Times. "Vero Beach's Alex Cobb gets first major league win". TCP. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Cobb 'bit surprised' to be among first cuts". MLB.com. March 12, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  11. "Alex Cobb tosses four-hit shutout, leads Rays past Athletics". ESPN.com. Associated Press. August 23, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  12. "Alex Cobb fans 13 in 4 2/3 innings, Rays top Padres". usatoday.com. Associated Press. May 10, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  13. "Alex Cobb makes strikeout history twice in unique outing". CBSSports.com. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  14. Marc Topkin (June 15, 2013). "Rays' Cobb hit in head by line drive, taken off on stretcher". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  15. Marc Topkin (August 15, 2013). "Rays rout Mariners in Cobb's return". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  16. William Weinbaum (January 28, 2014). "Pitchers' protective caps approved". ESPN. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  17. William Weinbaum (June 9, 2014). "Alex Cobb to endorse padded insert". ESPN. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  18. "Cobb, other Rays players begin 2015 season on DL". espn.go.com. ESPN. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  19. Chastain, Bill. "Cobb has partially torn UCL in right elbow". MLB.com. MLB.com. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  20. "Rays pitcher Alex Cobb to have season-ending elbow surgery". ESPN.com. Associated Press. May 8, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  21. "Alex Cobb Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  22. Jim_Turvey (April 11, 2017). "Alex Cobb is a different pitcher". DRaysBay. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  23. "Rays willing to trade Cobb". MLB Daily Dish. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  24. "Alex Cobb knows he's going to be traded". DRaysBay. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  25. "Tampa Bay Rays: Alex Cobb trade rumors". isportsweb. June 19, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  26. "Alex Cobb". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  27. "Alex Cobb agrees with Orioles on 4-year deal worth $60M". ESPN. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  28. http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26248649/orioles-name-cobb-start-opening-day
  29. "MLB notebook: Orioles' Cobb (groin) lands on IL". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  30. Brown, Mark (April 28, 2019). "Alex Cobb back to injured list as Orioles shuffle roster in flurry of moves". Camden Chat. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  31. "Statcast Leaderboard | baseballsavant.com". Baseballsavant.mlb.com. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  32. "Brooks Baseball · Home of the PitchFX Tool – Player Card: Alexander Cobb". Brooks Baseball. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  33. "Alex Cobb getting married!". February 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  34. "Difficult times have made Rays' Alex Cobb stronger". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
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