Detroit Tigers Offseason Signing Dealing With Injury, Opening Day In Doubt

The Detroit Tigers have had some bad injury luck already.

Sep 1, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Alex Cobb (35) delivers a pitch in the second inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Progressive Field. | David Richard-Imagn Images

The Detroit Tigers got an early dose of bad news this week with the release of the official injury report by the team.

As first broken by Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic, veteran offseason free agent signing right-handed pitcher Alex Cobb is dealing with right hip inflammation which manager A.J. Hinch says is going to set him back roughly a full month, likely putting his status for Opening Day and the first several weeks of the season into jeopardy.

Earlier on in the offseason, Cobb signed a one-year deal worth a lucrative $15 million with the Tigers. After turning 37 years old in October, Cobb arrived to Detroit coming off a season in which he made just three regular season starts toward the end of the year following a trade from the San Francisco Giants to the Cleveland Guardians.

In that small sample size, Cobb was very good with a 2.76 ERA and a 2-1 record, but he struggled in two postseason starts for the Guardians, giving up eight hits and five earned runs over just 5.2 total innings pitched.

Cobb actually told members of the Detroit media upon signing that he was considering retirement before Scott Harris called. Harris and Cobb's relationship goes back to their days with the Giants where the right-hander made the only All-Star appearance in his 13-year career in 2023.

Throughout his career, Cobb has dealt with numerous injuries and as a result has never even made 30 starts in a season. His $15 million contract actually can be worth up to $17 million if he hits incentives of at least 150 innings thrown, something he has done just four times before.

At the time of the deal, the price tag made sense based on the going rate for starting pitchers in free agency.

In the same breath however, had the Tigers simply waited a bit further into the offseason, either Cobb could have been cheaper or they could have signed someone with a significantly higher ceiling like Justin Verlander, who signed a very similar deal as Cobb with San Francisco.

Seeing how Cobb's likely early absence affects the rotation remains to be seen, but with Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, and Reese Olson looking like the only guaranteed starters at this point, there are roles to be filled.

Top prospect Jackson Jobe, former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize, and fellow right-handers Keider Montero and Matt Manning will likely be the four names vying for the final two spots in the rotation to begin the year.

How much time Cobb actually misses remains to be seen, but the first Detroit campaign for the veteran is not off to an ideal start.