The Los Angeles Angels finally welcomed Alex Cobb back into the mix on Thursday afternoon. Cobb had not pitched since July 23, when there were concerns over a potential blister. He eventually wound up on the IL, but not for the blister at all. Rather, it was a wrist injury that was assumed to be long-term, possibly season-ending.
While he missed two months of action, he was able to get back on the mound Thursday against the Chicago White Sox with a relatively strict pitch limit of 75. The assumption was that he would get somewhere between 3-5 innings of work.
However, he was even better than that. He finished the game throwing 66 pitches over 5.0 innings, allowing zero runs on two hits and two walks. He sat five batters down via the strikeout.
Cobb — who generally doesn’t hold back from the truth — said that he surprised even himself with how well he pitched in the Angels 9-3 win, according to Ryan Herrera of MLB.com:
“I definitely was expecting to go out there and compete and do well, but one, I didn’t think I was gonna work that deep into the game, and two, I definitely thought I’d probably be working a little bit harder,” Cobb said. “The overall stuff, I was really happy with. I had two live BPs before this where I didn’t love where my location was at, my command. I thought that was gonna be a little bit of a challenge today, but I was able to pound the zone for the most part.”
Cobb will now have a couple more chances to pitch before entering free agency. And although helping himself out with his next contract is a big confidence booster, he also is happy to help the Angels gain some steam going into next year, even if he’s not on the team.
“Whether I’m here or not next year, a big aspect of building on the previous year is that record. If we can try to get to above .500 or stay around .500, it can do a lot for our confidence going into next year knowing that we did that without our big guys.”
It’s unclear exactly what the Angels’ plans are surrounding Cobb or any of their other starting pitchers. When he was healthy, Cobb was actually one of the team’s most trusted players, showing consistency with every start.
He also really appeared to enjoy being with the Angels. He was one of the team’s most vocal players when it came to not being traded at the trade deadline, a fate he ultimately avoided.
Mike Trout, Jo Adell unlikely to return
Cobb was able to do what he needed to in order to make a return this season. However, it appears that may not be the same fate for Mike Trout and Jo Adell. Trout has been out since May 17, and absolutely nothing has changed about his status.
However, Adell recently joined him as a player that may be out for the season after crashing into the outfield wall over the weekend in Houston. Joe Maddon said that it’s unlikely that either play before the end of the season.