The Guardians introduced Thursday that right-hander Alex Cobb has been positioned on the 15-day injured record resulting from blisters on his pitching hand. Proper-hander Andrew Walters has had his contract chosen from Triple-A Columbus in his place. Cleveland already had a 40-man emptiness after just lately outrighting left-hander Anthony Gose once more.
It’s the second time since Cobb was acquired on the commerce deadline that he’s landed on the 15-day IL resulting from a minor harm on his pitching hand. He was beforehand out from Aug. 16 to Sept. 1 with a fractured fingernail on his proper hand as properly. Although neither a damaged nail nor a blister is extreme in nature, each points can forestall a pitcher from gripping his pitches correctly — notably a knuckle curve just like the one thrown by Cobb.
Although he’s now twice been briefly shelved, Cobb has made three begins with the Guards: two of them wonderful and one fairly rocky. He surrendered 4 runs in 4 2/3 innings to the Twins in his crew (and season) debut, however he’s since rebounded with 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in opposition to the Cubs and 6 shutout frames in opposition to the Pirates. There’s nonetheless time for him to get again by the top of the season, and Cobb may issue into the crew’s postseason plans as properly.
Cleveland acquired Cobb from the Giants in change for a pair of prospects (Jacob Bresnahan, Nate Furman). The Giants had hoped he’d have the ability to return early within the season after recovering from hip surgical procedure carried out over the winter, however a shoulder challenge and a separate set of blister troubles delayed his activation. From 2021-23, Cobb pitched 394 1/3 innings with a 3.79 ERA and high quality strikeout and stroll charges (22.8%, 6.8%) with the Angels and Giants.
Turning to the 23-year-old Walters, he’ll be making his huge league debut barely a 12 months after being chosen with the No. 62 general decide within the 2023 draft. The College of Miami product has pitched solely in aid this season and laid waste to Double-A and Triple-A lineups alike. Within the first 50 1/3 innings of his skilled profession, he’s recorded a 2.32 ERA and whiffed greater than 37% of his opponents, although some command troubles have cropped up in Triple-A specifically. He’s issued a free move to 11.8% of his opponents this season, together with a 13.2% mark in Triple-A. Walters has additionally plunked three hitters, which means greater than 12% of his opponents this season have reached base with out placing a ball in play.
Management points have been the first knock on Walters since he turned professional. He boasts a mid-90s heater that may attain 100 mph and {couples} that with a slider that he barely utilized in faculty whereas specializing in a fastball-heavy strategy. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen offers him 30-grade command on the 20-80 scouting scale, rating him 14th amongst Cleveland prospects and noting that he lacks really feel for ending and command his breaking ball. MLB.com tabs him twenty second within the system and notes that his command was sharper in faculty (evidenced by a 5.6% stroll fee within the NCAA), voicing some optimism that he’ll have the ability to enhance as time goes on.
