Alex Cobb leads the Rays in the rubber match v New York.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – It’s been two long years since Alex Cobb made a start in April. Tommy John surgery made sure of that. Last September, he did return to the rotation to very sub-par results. He wasn’t the Alex Cobb of old. The righty that went out there every five days and dominated a lineup.
From 2013-2014, Cobb went 21-12 and posted back to back years with sub-three ERA. He was turning into one of the best pitchers in the AL before it all went south and surgery forced the long, arduous recovery.
The 2017 Cobb model is healthy and ready to get back to his every day routine as a starter in this rotation. The “elder statesman” if you will. At 29 years old, Cobb is the oldest in the bunch as he heads into his sixth season in MLB – all with the Rays.
Wednesday, he’ll head to the hill hoping to start the Rays off with a series win against the rival Yankees. The lineup he faces is one Joe Girardi has kept in tact all three games in this series.
LF Brett Gardner
C Gary Sanchez
1B Greg Bird
DH Matt Holliday
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2B Starlin Castro
3B Chase Headley
RF Aaron Judge
SS Ronald Torreyes
On the other side, the Yankees send Michael Pineda to the mound. Pineda has been with the Yankees since 2014 and finally put together a full season last year. In 32 games, he finished 6-12 with a 4.92 ERA giving up 27 home runs.
The Rays will send out their Opening Day lineup to face him.
DH Corey Dickerson
CF Kevin Kiermaier
3B Evan Longoria
2B Brad Miller
RF Steven Souza Jr
1B Logan Morrison
SS Tim Beckham
LF Mallex Smith
C Derek Norris
NOTABLES:
- Tuesday night’s loss to the Yankees marked the 400th consecutive game a Rays starter (Odorizzi) was under the age of 30, longest streak in the Majors.
- C Wilson Ramos, recovering from knee surgery, is eyeing a June return to the lineup.
QUOTABLES:
- Rays Cobb on having his first two starts of ’17 v Yankees: “It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like I’ve started the season on the right foot. I’m going into it excited to see all the work I’ve put in the last couple of seasons. I’ll just try and be aggressive and throw strikes.”
