Alex Cobb

BIOGRAPHY

Alex Cobb was October 7, 1987, in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

He lived in North Reading, Massachusetts, for the first two years of his life, when his family relocated to Vero Beach, Florida, due to employment. As a youth, Cobb served as a batboy for the Los Angeles Dodgers at Holman Stadium in Vero Beach for three years of spring training. He grew up a Boston Red Sox fan. He graduated from Vero Beach High School in 2006. Cobb committed to play college baseball at Clemson. Cobb proposed to his girlfriend, Kelly Reynolds, in February 2014 at the Discovery Cove in Orlando. Cobb's brother, R. J., is a United States Army captain who served in the Iraq War and earned a Purple Heart. R. J. is four years older than Alex.

On March 20, 2018, Cobb agreed to a 4-year deal worth $57 million with the Baltimore Orioles. The deal was finalized on March 21. On September 23, he aggravated a blister, keeping him out for the remainder of the season. He finished the first season of his 4-year contract with a 5-15 record in 28 starts, striking out 102 batters and a 4.90 ERA. He struck out 102 batters in 152 1⁄3 innings. On March 13, 2019, the team announced that Cobb would be the team's Opening Day starter.

In 2021 he was 8–3 with a 3.76 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 93.1 innings (a career-high 9.5 batters per 9 innings) over 18 starts. He had the third-lowest home runs/9 innings pitched rate among starters with at least 90 innings. He also was in the top 94% among qualified pitchers in "barrel rate," as he gave up a barrel (high exit velocity and ideal launch angle) on only 4.2% of batted balls against him, and in the top 93% on his career-best "chase rate" (the percentage of pitches outside the strike zone that he induces batter to swing at).

On November 30, 2021, the San Francisco Giants signed Cobb to a two-year, $20 million contract with a $10 million club option for his third season. 

Cobb throws four pitches: a four-seam fastball and sinker averaging about 93 mph, a knuckle-curve in the low 80s, and a splitter in the high 80s. More than half of his pitches with 2 strikes are splitters. He tends to throw more four-seamers and splitters to right-handed hitters, but batters from both sides of the plate see a fair amount of all of his pitches.

In 2022 with the Giants, he was 7–8 with a 3.73 ERA in 23 starts, as in 149.2 innings he struck out 151 batters (a career high). He was in the top 4% in "lowest barrel-rate against," among MLB pitchers. On defense he led all NL pitchers in double plays turned, with four.