Cobb knows all about getting ready quickly
Veteran starter had no real spring with Orioles in 2018
Orioles veteran starter Alex Cobb has experienced a hurried run-up to the season before. If he’s going to make good on his goal of proving he’s still a high-level pitcher, it will have to go better than it did before.
Cobb was signed by the Orioles in late March 2018 and rushed through simulated games without any real spring training before he made his debut two weeks into the season. He struggled for much of the first half of that season because of how he prepared in the 24 days between signing and pitching in a major league game.
He believes the shortened preparation for the season will be more successful in 2020 since he won’t be playing catch-up and will be on the same page as his teammates and other players around the league, as well as further along physically than he was in 2018.
“We all got a little bit of a taste of spring training,” Cobb said. “I think most guys had two or three outings, and we’re able to take that and go back to our homes and sit on that for a little bit and then there was that three-month gap to where we had to just kind of maintain, so it’s going to come quick. …
“I think most people have that sense and realize it, and they’re doing everything they can — especially our organization. The way we’re going about this spring training that we have is intense. We’re jumping right into games, and having them at night, and there’s going to be some friendly competitions going on between teams, and that’s all great. We’re going to get that feeling of competition back and I think you’ll see for the most part, people took care of their business when they went home and stayed prepared, stayed sharp.”
For Cobb, the 2020 season is another chance to make good on the four-year, $56 million contract he signed ahead of that 2018 season. He admitted Thursday that while he was throwing often and building up his arm ahead of signing with the Orioles that spring — the same type of routine he was in during the shutdown— he was overly careful not to hurt himself and make moot the contract talks that were ongoing for his one true chance at free agency.
He had a 13.11 ERA after three starts and a 6.41 ERA at the All-Star break, though that ended the season at 4.90 thanks to a second half where he found the feel for his split-changeup and had a 2.56 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP after the break.
Cobb and the Orioles believed he was in a good place to replicate that in 2019 before a variety of injuries limited him to three unsuccessful starts and led to hip surgery.
Manager Brandon Hyde has said since camp resumed that the layoff might have helped Cobb after he got a sense of where he was in spring training.
The veteran right-hander said he was pleased with how he felt after three innings of live batting practice earlier this week.
The real test will be Friday’s planned four-inning outing in the team’s intrasquad game.
Success for Cobb this year will build from this point, and he feels he has “a whole lot to prove” considering how the first half of his contract went.
He wants to show he still has plenty left in the tank.
“I was pitching at a really high level early on in my career and coming into this organization,” said Cobb, who came up with the Tampa Bay Rays. “I want really badly to get back to that. It’s really tough when you know your abilities and you’re not reaching them constantly. If I can get back to that this season, that would be tremendous.
“If I can just get to a good level where I feel comfortable going into next year, that’d be great. I just need to see a lot of improvement. I need to see all the work I’ve been putting in is going to pay off.”