Alex Cobb to DL with Dead Arm
By Editorial Staff
After making an early exit from Saturday’s start against the A’s, Alex Cobb has been placed on the disabled list. As of now the injury is being referred to as a case of dead arm, but examinations are ongoing to try and figure out the root cause of the issue.
Cobb left Saturday’s game in the middle of the 5th inning after allowing 7 hits and 5 earned runs. He was experiencing discomfort in his throwing arm and went to a nearby hospital to have the problem checked out.
What doctors discovered was that the issue didn’t seem to be anything serious.
"“I had some pain, or numbing in my [right-middle finger],” Cobb said. “They checked for clots, just to make sure it wasn’t anything like that. All the tests came back good, but something just didn’t feel right yesterday. They just wanted to make sure it wasn’t life threatening. They did all the tests that they could possibly think of and didn’t find anything.”"
While it was good news that Cobb wasn’t suffering from something severe, the examination still didn’t uncover what was causing the right hander’s discomfort. Tampa Bay decided to go ahead and place Cobb on the disabled list, opting to proceed cautiously with one of their top young arms.
Cobb was glad that nothing serious was diagnosed, but was hoping to leave the hospital with an idea of what’s wrong with his arm.
"“I almost wanted them to find something, so we can know what it is and can get it over with, do the proper treatment for it. I was kind of more eager to find out what it was. I’m just thankful that it wasn’t too serious, or they would have found something last night.”"
The route of the injury may be traced back to Cobb’s last start against the Mariners. Though he felt fine during the game, the discomfort hit after his off day and his arm hasn’t been right since.
Even so, Cobb neglected to inform Tampa Bay of his condition. Rays manager Joe Maddon told the 23 year old that in the future he needs to be open about his health so more extensive injuries can be avoided.
Cobb joined the Rays in May after posting an impressive 1.87 ERA in 12 Triple-A starts this season. After facing a rocky start to his Major League career, Cobb was able to rebound for a solid stretch between June and July in which he maintained a 1.90 ERA over 6 starts.
To replace Cobb on their roster, the Rays have recalled left hander Cesar Ramos. Tampa Bay was using a 6 man rotation, so the loss of Cobb will result in the team reverting back to a 5 man staff.
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