The Giants have placed right-hander Alex Cobb on the 15-day injured list, as the veteran is suffering from a left oblique strain. Cobb’s placement is retroactive to June 15. Right-hander Keaton Winn was called up from Triple-A to take Cobb’s spot on the active roster.
Over 78 2/3 innings this season, Cobb has quietly been one of the most effective pitchers in the game, posting a 3.09 ERA. A strong 6.2% walk rate and a 58.9% grounder rate have helped Cobb offset a below-average 22.5% strikeout rate and quite a bit of hard contact. For the second straight year, the Giants’ mediocre defense hasn’t provided much help for a groundball specialist like Cobb, as he has a .341 BABIP over his two seasons in San Francisco.
Cobb’s performance has been a big reason behind the Giants’ 38-32 record, and it remains to be seen how severe his oblique strain is, or how much time he could miss. A Grade 1 strain would count as relatively good news, as it would likely limit Cobb’s absence to roughly 3-4 weeks, though oblique injuries are notoriously tricky to forecast.
It’s a bad break for a Giants rotation that seemed to be getting healthier when Alex Wood was activated yesterday from his own IL stint (due to a bad back). However, it was one step forward and two steps back on the health front, as the Giants have now lost both Cobb and versatile reliever John Brebbia to the injured list within the last two days. Ross Stripling is still a couple of weeks away from returning from the back injury that sent him to the IL last month, so the Giants might need to again turn to bullpen games until Stripling is activated.
Winn has mostly worked as a starter at Triple-A this season and could also factor into the rotation picture. Sean Manaea could get another look as a starter, but he struggled in the rotation earlier this year and has pitched generally better out of the bullpen, so the Giants might not want to interrupt his progress. Star prospect Kyle Harrison might also be a possibility, except for the fact that Harrison has a whopping 17.9% walk rate over 47 1/3 innings at Triple-A.
Darn no Harrison, or Wisenhunt. Still they are on a roll this injury shouldn’t derail that hopefully it doesn’t linger for Cobb or we likely will see one of these guys sooner than later.
Our number 2 starter on IL. Will be difficult to replace his performance.
Crawford has a 0.00 ERA.
Hopefully Zaidi doesn’t trade for Stroman. Much rather give young kids (Harrison, Winn, Beck, Whisenant) a chance.
I dislike stroman and his antics. He’s a good pitcher but doesn’t seem like a good fit for the clubhouse and I wouldn’t wanna giveaway more talent to the cubs honestly.
Yay! Even more bullpen games!
Who cares ? We win most of them.
That might be a good playoff strategy. Mix and match depending on their lineup.
I have a gut feeling they might do a Brebbia bullpen game even in the playoffs. It’s been working
Starting pitching has been this team’s Achilles heel this year. I think Harrison and a trade will be necessary down the stretch but the bullpen has been rock solid the past six weeks
Meh who needs starting pitching, go with a two man rotation and just pack the bullpen. Seems to be working lately.
Manea and Stripling need to do what they’re paid to do at some point.
Agreed. This is why they are here. Starter depth and at least one of them in the rotation. Both need to step up big time right now. I’d give Manea the first start in the next few days.
Damn it. Tough times on the injury front.
Hey foppert! Is that you? Are you back from your water buffalo adventure? Did you lose your login so you are foppert1 now?
Hi Agnes. Back to the grind and some Giant consistency. Tis good. Foppert’s comments suddenly stopped appearing. Must have got banned for being anti troll and pro Zaidi !
Foppert1 it is then. 🙂
I wonder if you did get banned or maybe since you were posting from overseas it looked different and suspicious?
Amazing game tonight! Giants are vibing!
If you are interested in chatting sometime on our silly little blog, let me know. Just a friendly positive group of 12-15 Giants fans who watch games, talk news and trades and whatever. Some old farts on there but good people! Lol
Too early for Harrison. He needs to work on reducing those walks before he’s ready for the show. Major Leagues shouldn’t be on the job training; many more prospects have failed than succeeded when rushed.
Familiar.
Signed, The Orioles