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Baltimore Orioles: Alex Cobb Named 2019 Opening Day Starter

By Nick Stevens

BALTIMORE, MD - APRIL 25: Alex Cobb #17 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches in the first inning in inning during a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 25, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - APRIL 25: Alex Cobb #17 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches in the first inning in inning during a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 25, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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The Baltimore Orioles have named Alex Cobb their 2019 Opening Day starter.

We are getting closer and closer to the start of the 2019 Major League Baseball season and putting the 2018 season behind us, for good. Very few things bring about more excitement than when your favorite team names their Opening Day starter, which the Baltimore Orioles announced just moments ago.

Climbing the mound for the Orioles on March 28th as they travel to New York to take on the Yankees will be second-year Oriole, RHP Alex Cobb.

Cobb will be the third different starter used by the Orioles to kick off their season over the past three years.  Kevin Gausman led things off in 2017, followed by Dylan Bundy in 2018. From 2014-2016 Chris Tillman received the Opening Day nod. This will be Cobb’s first time climbing the hill for an Opening Day start.

Spring training hasn’t exactly invoked warm and fuzzy feelings about the Orioles’ starting rotation, one that brings back the top three starters, has a group of first and second-year arms battling for the backend spots, and finished dead last in Major League Baseball in earned run average.

However, as I discussed back in early-February when optimism was through the roof and the initial sounds of baseballs popping into gloves brought about indescribable feelings, if there was any pitcher on this roster worth betting on to turn it around in 2019, it is Alex Cobb.

Cobb finished his first season in an Orioles uniform with a 5-15 record, 4.90 ERA, and 1.41 WHIP, including an 0-3 and 13.11 ERA to begin the season.

He was able to turn things around, before being shut down late in the season due to blisters. In his post-All-Star game starts, opponents produced a batting line of .229/.288/.377 against Cobb, a tremendous improvement over his first-half numbers which brought back nightmares of Ubaldo Jimenez and that failed experience.

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The rest of the starting rotation has yet to be announced, but clearly, there are new faces in charge of running this team. We don’t know what Buck Showalter would have done, but I would have bet money on Dylan Bundy being the Opening Day starter for a second-straight season, if he was still in charge of lineups. Bundy will slot somewhere in the rotation, as will Andrew Cashner, while the final two spots are up in the air. There hasn’t been any word on the rest of rotation, yet.

With about two weeks left of camp, the favorites appear to be David Hess and Mike Wright, with Yefry Ramirez, Josh Rogers, and even John Means battling.

Cobb won’t be eased into the season as he was last year. Going up against the New York Yankees on the road is one of the toughest challenges there is in baseball. We wish him the best of luck and will be paying close attention from the Charm City. Cobb will start opposite of Masahiro Tanaka, who has already been given the Opening Day nod for the Yankees.

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What are your thoughts, Orioles fans?

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