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SF Giants: SP Alex Cobb leaves game after line drive hits left knee

The SF Giants had a scary moment during Saturday's spring training game when Alex Cobb took a line drive off his left knee.

Marc Delucchi

SF Giants: SP Alex Cobb leaves game after line drive hits left knee
SF Giants: SP Alex Cobb leaves game after line drive hits left knee /
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The SF Giants held their breath after right-handed pitcher Alex Cobb took a line drive off his left knee during Saturday's spring training game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cobb laid on the ground for a bit and was removed from the game, although he was able to walk off the field under his own power. Luckily, tests came back negative, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, and Cobb has been diagnosed with a left knee contusion.

Cobb is slated to be the Giants' number two starter this season and has been having a promising spring. While Cobb has a 6.75 ERA in three appearances, he has racked up 13 strikeouts in eight innings pitched while allowing just two walks and one home run. On Saturday, when Cobb took a line drive from Miguel Vargas off his left shin, the righty had already recorded five strikeouts in 3+ innings pitched.

Last season, Cobb was an underrated part of the Giants excellent rotation. He recorded a 3.73 ERA with 151 strikeouts in 149.2 innings pitched and, according to ERA estimators like FIP (2.80), xFIP (2.89), and xERA (3.15) he suffered from significant batted-ball luck. Given how horribly San Francisco's defense performed last season, it's easy to see how Cobb's ERA was higher than his performance was worth.

After failing to re-sign left-handed starter Carlos Rodón in free agency this offseason, the Giants doubled down on Cobb's ability to lead their rotation alongside Logan Webb. However, that put a lot of pressure on 35-year-old Cobb who has been unable to amass 150 innings pitched in a season since 2018.

Nevertheless, SF Giants starter Alex Cobb had a scary moment on Saturday when a line drive from Dodgers infielder Miguel Vargas went off his left shin. Able to walk off the field under his own power, Cobb avoided any serious injury and looks to remain on pace to be ready for Opening Day.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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