The San Francisco Giants are having a fantastic offseason.
The team entered free agency with a tall mountain to climb.
Four of the club’s five starting pitchers from the 2021 campaign began the offseason as free agents.
For a team whose strength was its rotation last season, this offseason had disaster written all over it.
But that hasn’t been the case.
Instead of a disaster, the Giants are finding ways to assemble another extremely good rotation.
They’ve already re-signed some key pieces, and in a new development, they’re reportedly on the verge of adding Alex Cobb.
Alex Cobb and #SFGiants are finalizing a deal
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 30, 2021
Assuming the deal gets finalized, this is another great move for San Francisco.
It looks like the team’s rotation is going to be a force to be reckoned with again in 2022.
Here’s What San Francisco’s Rotation Would Look Like With Cobb
Going into the offseason, Logan Webb was the Giants’ only starter from the 2021 season who was guaranteed to return to the team in 2022.
But today, things are in much better shape.
Anthony DeSclafani is returning to the team (on a three-year deal), and it looks like Alex Wood is too, although an official announcement hasn’t come out yet.
When you take Webb, DeSclafani, and Wood and then add Cobb into the mix, you’ve got yourself a very solid group of arms.
Let’s take a look at each player’s numbers from the 2021 season.
- DeSclafani: 3.17 ERA, 129 ERA+, 3.62 FIP, 1.09 WHIP
- Webb: 3.03 ERA, 135 ERA+, 2.72 FIP, 1.11 WHIP
- Wood: 3.83 ERA, 107 ERA+, 3.48 FIP, 1.18 WHIP
- Cobb: 3.76 ERA — you can read a full rundown in the next section
Obviously, those numbers are all pretty attractive.
San Francisco might want to add another starter before the offseason ends to fill in the final rotation spot, but it doesn’t have to be a superstar.
The four guys we just talked about should be able to win this team a lot of games in 2022.
Cobb’s 2021 Season In Review
Assuming the Giants and Cobb do make things official, here’s what San Francisco is going to get.
Cobb spent the 2021 season with the Los Angeles Angels, and it was an impressive showing for him.
Injuries limited him to just 18 starts, but when he was available, he was very effective.
He posted a 3.76 ERA (as mentioned) and complemented it with a 2.92 FIP.
He also registered a 119 ERA+ and 1.26 WHIP.
The Angels went 12-6 in his starts (for whatever that’s worth), and he finished the season with a 2.01 ERA over his final seven outings.
If you want a bigger sample size, you can include Cobb’s 2020 season along with his 2021 stats.
He made 28 total starts between the 2020 and 2021 seasons, which is closer to a full season’s worth of outings.
And in that span, he maintained an ERA+ of 115, which is 15 percent better than league average.
Alex Cobb, 81mph Knuckle Curve (Swing/Miss) and 86mph Splitter (Sword), Overlay pic.twitter.com/D3aRCURD6R
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 18, 2020
The Giants would be thrilled with that level of production from him.
Cobb has been in the big leagues for 10 years, but he’s still looking for his first World Series title.
He would surely love to get one with the Giants in 2022.
NEXT: 3 Things Giants Fans Have To Be Thankful For This Thanksgiving
