RADIO
Alex Cobb 2021 Player Outlook: Resurgent At Age 34
3 years agoCobb has been a tough guy to get a finger on in his career. He threw 700 innings with the Rays to begin his career and was a very good pitcher over that stretch. Then he went to Baltimore and got hit around for three seasons (posted a 5.10 ERA in 217 innings there). That bad performance took him to the Angels last year for 18 starts, and he posted a pretty nice line of a 3.76 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP over his 93.1 innings there. His calling card has always been the ground-ball, with a very strong 53.1% GB%. What he added last year was a bit of the strikeout pitch, as he posted career-bests with a 24.9% K% and an 11.2% SwStr%. He is mostly sinker-splitter, which is a limited arsenal, but both pitches work great. He posted an elite combo of a 65% GB% and a 20.2% SwStr% with the splitter, and the sinker sets it up pretty well with a strong 32.2% CSW%. Now at age 34, he joins yet another team, the San Francisco Giants. This seems like a really good spot for him, as the Giants have a great track record with starting pitchers and that ballpark plays nicely. Cobb's upside is limited, but with the strides he made in 2021 after escaping Baltimore, he seems like a superb value way down around pick 250.
