CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – It was no secret that starting pitching was a need for the Guardians at Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Cleveland’s President of Baseball Operations, Chris Antonetti, admitted that the market for starting pitching was a busy one, but the club still managed to acquire Alex Cobb from the San Fransisco Giants.
Firsts can be hard to come by for 12-year MLB veterans. In Cobb’s case, he’s never been traded at the deadline in his career. He admitted that it was a challenge, especially geographically.
“That caught me off guard a little bit because I hadn’t pitched at all, ” Cobb said about being traded. “Then you don’t really have time to think about anything. You try to figure out a way in 24 hours to pack up the house, the kids, and move across the country. It’s been kind of a blur since then.”
Since being traded at the deadline is a first for him, Cobb has yet to experience what it’s like joining a team that’s contending 108 games into the season.
“It’s been over 10 years since I’ve been to the postseason,” Cobb said. “I feel like I’m cheating on an exam or cutting in line. I got placed on a potential postseason team that has all the aspirations to go deep into the postseason, so I feel very fortunate."
Guardians baseball is still foreign to Cobb. His first exposure to the team was Thursday’s series opener against the Orioles. Cobb was in the dugout for an impressive 10-3 win for Cleveland.
“I had really no thoughts about the team, but joined them yesterday and watched the game and was just jaw-dropped the whole game,” Cobb said. “It was probably the most well-rounded baseball game I’ve seen played in a very long time."
Cobb will have to wait to join the Guardians rotation. He’ll pick up from where he left off in his recovery before being traded. He got built up to five innings in Triple-A, and even called the Giants to let them know he was ready before a blister delayed his season debut.
“My outlook is this is the best I’ve ever felt,” Cobb said. “I wake up every day and feel great. The desire is still there knowing that there is still a lot more left in the tank, a lot more left to accomplish.”
Cobb’s making a rehab start on Saturday for Columbus. He said he’s hopeful that he’ll just have to make the one more outing before being ready to go. Manager Stephen Vogt said that Cobb is expected to throw approximately 70-75 pitches on Saturday.
Injury update – Matthew Boyd made his fourth rehab start on Thursday night at Triple-A Columbus. In 3.2 innings pitched, Boyd struck out five batters while allowing one earned run. He was pulled after throwing 63 pitches.
“He’s doing great,” Vogt said. “Feeling good today, so he’ll make another rehab start next week. Not sure what day that is yet, but he’s definitely trending in the right direction.”
Boyd has a 1.15 ERA across four rehab starts. He’s given up two earned runs on 11 hits with 20 strikeouts in 15.2 innings pitched. Vogt confirmed that while the box score has looked good for Boyd through four rehab starts, his focus is on how Boyd’s feeling after each outing.
