Baltimore Orioles: Alex Cobb’s Potential Effect on the Orioles’ 2018 Rotation
By Steve Rudden
The Baltimore Orioles could finally have a rotation that could be a player in the AL Wild Card race with the signing of Alex Cobb.
Now that Alex Cobb fills out the Baltimore Orioles‘ rotation for the 2018 season, what kind of effect will it have on the rest of the starters? For one, it takes pressure off of everyone else. They finally have five starters that can keep them in games.
I never really felt all that comfortable when Ubaldo Jimenez and Wade Miley were pitching. I just knew that they were going to struggle from the start.
Alex Cobb’s effect on the rotation greatly impacts Chris Tillman and it prevents Buck Showalter from having to use one of two Rule 5 pitchers from starting. If I were Buck, I’d make Tillman the #5 starter because of the way he’s been struggling since 2017.
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The rotation should look like this: Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy, Alex Cobb, Andrew Cashner, and Chris Tillman. It’s good that Alex Cobb has experience pitching in the AL East so he won’t be intimidated by the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox lineups.
Going into the offseason, the Baltimore Orioles needed three starters and they finally have filled up the rotation. As a fan, I’m much more confident in this rotation then what they had at the beginning of Spring Training.
Mike Wright is never going to be what the Baltimore Orioles hope he can be, so it’s good to keep him in the minors or in the bullpen because he always seems to struggle.
Let’s just hope that Alex Cobb doesn’t turn out to be another Ubaldo Jimenez, but I don’t see that happening. Cobb won’t necessarily light up the stat book, but he will at least keep the Orioles in games for the offense to do some damage.
This signing shows that the Baltimore Orioles plan on competing and hopefully not a complete disappointment in 2018.