Alex Cobb's return to Tigers might actually be perfect timing, but role is unclear

Alex Cobb hasn't been on the Tigers' IL from the moment he signed his one-year deal with the club, but he might as well have been. Cobb never managed to throw a single pitch in spring training and was moved to the 15-day IL with hip inflammation ahead of Opening Day. He's been there ever since.

Although the Tigers had a solid offseason despite some additions being a little suspect at the outset, Cobb hasn't yet had the opportunity to prove that the team pulling him away from the brink of retirement was a good idea. He only made three starts with the Guardians last year after recovering from hip surgery in 2023 and then reporting shoulder inflammation, so why not just let him retire?

Cobb progressed to facing live hitting in the last week. He'll undoubtedly need to go on a rehab assignment, but the Tigers do have a vacancy in the rotation with Casey Mize and Reese Olson on the IL. Keider Montero is back in the majors to make bulk relief appearances, but Cobb could be a more concrete rotation replacement if Mize or Olson are out longer than anticipated.

Then again, given the Tigers' rotation's early season success and the fact that Cobb only threw 16 1/3 last season and feels sort of like a ticking time bomb in terms of injury, how does he factor into the Tigers' plans?

Alex Cobb has progressed to throwing live BP, but where does he fit into the Tigers' roster?

The Tigers' rotation has come down to earth since their initial hot run, when four out of five of their starters had sub-3.00 ERAs. Tarik Skubal is, unsurprisingly, still dominating, but Jack Flaherty has lost a lot of velocity and has had a rough stretch while Jackson Jobe is still getting his bearings. Jobe is the most vulnerable of any of the Tigers' starters to replacement, given his minor league options. Still, it's hard to believe that Cobb would make a discernible enough difference to halt the development of a promising top prospect.

It doesn't feel unrealistic to say that they could move Cobb back to the bullpen to take on Montero's role as a bulk innings-eater.

The Tigers already paid Kenta Maeda $14 million last year to do just that, and are now paying him $10 million to do nothing. It's hard to imagine that Cobb could be worse than him (knock on wood), but it would also be upsetting to see him take playing time away from more worthy options.