Story by
Why Detroit Tigers were 'aggressive' in signing veteran Alex Cobb for 2025 season
- Story by
- Why Detroit Tigers were 'aggressive' in signing veteran Alex Cobb for 2025 season
The Detroit Tigers have built one of the best pitching development factories since hiring president of baseball operations Scott Harris less than 27 months ago , helping Michael Lorenzen and Jack Flaherty improve in back-to-back years.
Alex Cobb represents a new project for the 2025 season.
Advertisement
The Tigers signed Cobb, a 37-year-old right-hander, to a one-year, $15 million contract. The deal can max out at $17 million by unlocking a pair of bonuses: $1 million for 140 innings and another $1 million for 150 innings.
THE DEAL: Tigers sign right-hander Alex Cobb to one-year contract
Cobb has a 3.84 ERA in his 13-year MLB career.
"My relationship with Scott goes back to San Francisco (with the Giants in 2022 and 2023)," Cobb said. "He made it well known early on that they were going to be aggressive. That excited me, just based on what I saw from the team last year. They became the Cinderella story, basically, for all of baseball. I feel like the whole league was rooting for them."
Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Alex Cobb delivers a pitch in the second inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Progressive Field, Sept. 1, 2024 in Cleveland.
Cobb isn't as young as Lorenzen or Flaherty, but he provides an unmatched veteran presence to help support a deep starting rotation that's anchored by reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal .
Advertisement
He has thrown more than 1,300 innings across 233 starts, he has already competed for five different teams, and he has two tastes of postseason experience, albeit separated by 11 years. He also underwent rib surgery in 2011, Tommy John surgery in 2015, right hip surgery in 2019 and left hip surgery in 2023.
Cobb possesses more career experiences than anyone on the Tigers' roster.
"We had exit interviews with our players after the season," Harris said. "It's a very common theme that we need to continue to add veteran presences to this team.
"We wanted to find someone with the pure stuff and experience and track record that could make our pitching staff better, but also be that type of positive clubhouse presence."
Advertisement
WATCH OUT: Tigers 'interested' in Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki. Here's why they have a chance
The Tigers, however, signed Cobb for more than his success on the mound and his veteran presence. The Tigers plan to help Cobb develop as a starting pitcher, even at age 37.
He hasn't had a full-season ERA below 3.50 since 2014.
"The first time I talked to Alex, I talked about how we got some pitching development for him," Harris said. "We think that there's another gear. He is very curious, he is very determined to get better, and he is very open-minded about making adjustments."
From left, Detroit Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter talks to assistant pitching coaches Juan Nieves, Robin Lund and manager A.J. Hinch during spring training at Tigertown in Lakeland, Fla. on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.
Cobb believes the Tigers' pitching department — led by pitching coach Chris Fetter and assistant pitching coach Robin Lund — is better at development than the other 29 MLB teams.
Advertisement
In Detroit , Fetter specializes in game planning and Lund specializes in biomechanics and pitch shapes.
"I think we all saw — Flaherty had a couple of struggling years in the previous years, and then obviously figured something out here last year and was very impressive throughout the regular season and the postseason," Cobb said. "I think every team pitches you on that idea.
"I think what separates Detroit is the fact that I know Scott, I know his background, and I have talked to other free agents, people that have gone through the process with them that said it was different there. They suggest that it is not the same as the pitch that other teams give you. Their data is a little bit different, and they have the staff that knows how to take that and translate it into athlete terms of understanding, rather than just being really biomechanical and hoping that you grasp it. They've got guys on staff that know how to translate it really well."
The Tigers haven't unveiled to Cobb their entire plan.
But Harris thinks Cobb — who ranked in the 16th percentile with a 21.7% whiff rate in 2023, then had an even worse 17.1% whiff rate in 2024 — has an opportunity to generate more swings and misses by working on his splitter.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, Cobb is interested in adding a four-seam fastball to his three-pitch mix and tweaking the grips of his secondary pitches based on in-game situations.
"These are all things that I've played with a little bit in the past," Cobb said. "I've never really felt the comfort of bringing it into a big-league game. Whatever helpful tips or information that they might have for me, I'm wide open."
ANYONE ELSE: Tigers 'probably set for now' in starting rotation after signing Alex Cobb
In 2024, Cobb threw three pitches: 43.8% splitters, 43% sinkers and 13.2% curveballs. His sinker averaged 93.8 mph induced ground balls; his splitter averaged 89.2 mph and generated chase; his curveball averaged 83.2 mph with depth and produced called strikes early in counts.
Advertisement
"We think there's another gear for his stuff that we're going to work with this offseason and into spring training," Harris said, "but it's a pitcher that knows his strengths. He really moves the ball around the zone and keeps the ball out of the middle of the zone. I think some of our young starters that have really good stuff can learn from the way he commands the baseball."
From a performance standpoint, the Tigers coveted Cobb because he throws strikes, gets soft contact, keeps the ball on the ground and locates multiple secondary pitches.
Cobb registered a 2.76 ERA with three walks and 10 strikeouts across 16⅔ innings in three starts throughout an injury-plagued 2024 season, including a hip injury and a shoulder injury. He was healthy in 2022 and 2023, posting a 3.80 ERA across 301 innings in 56 starts.
Advertisement
He ranked in the 95th percentile with a 57.8% ground-ball rate in 2023, then improved to 61.2% in 2024. He also ranked in the 87th percentile with a 5.7% walk rate in 2023, then improved to 4.8% in 2024. He hasn't had a ground-ball rate below 50% since 2019, with the MLB average at 44.4%.
In 2025, the Tigers plan to benefit from those strengths while unlocking Cobb's next level of performance.
"I think our approach to pitching development has definitely produced results over the last couple of years," Harris said, "and I think we've started to rebrand this organization as a destination for pitchers. I have noticed that pitchers have been more receptive this year and in recent years than they were when I first got here."
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
Advertisement
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers 'aggressive' in signing vet Alex Cobb for 2025 season
