Cobb on track to start Thursday's home opener

NEW YORK - Alex Cobb has rejoined the Orioles following yesterday's start at Twin Lakes Park, which sealed his availability to take the mound for Thursday afternoon's home opener against the Yankees.

Cobb threw five innings against Twins minor leaguers and didn't experience any discomfort in his groin. He can come off the 10-day injured list and face the Yankees.

"Felt great, no issue at all with the groin," he said. "I haven't really confirmed it with anybody, but I would imagine I'm still on track."

He is. Manager Brandon Hyde offered up confirmation later this morning by saying that Cobb is in the clear and ready.

Cobb has passed all of the on-field tests.

"I basically did a whole pregame week buildup to that, everything that I would normally do, even workout-wise," he said. "In the course of the game I had one or two plays where I had to sprint off the mound and make some plays, and there was not even any thought about it. It was nice peace of mind leaving the game."

Getting the first home game is a nice consolation prize for Cobb, who's twice been injured after chosen to start opening day.

"Basically the same thing, without the game being on ESPN," he said. "Facing the same team. Probably be similar atmosphere. At least the fans will be on our side, hopefully, for the most part, so it will be fun."

Cobb played catch on the final day of camp and hoped to avoid the IL, but the Orioles weren't taking any chances with him. Especially in cold weather in the Bronx.

His final start lasted only one inning and he pretty much knew what would follow.

"Being around and knowing the way things go, I knew, and that's why I wanted to keep going in the game," Cobb said. "Smartly, Broc (Doug Brocail) told me to take it in and not risk it. It's not worth it. But in the moment I wanted to keep going. So I knew with all the uncertainty that was going to be around it that I wasn't going to be able to make the start.

"I also knew it wasn't that bad, so I was hopeful that I could persuade them, but they did the right thing and they were smart to not only cover their end but protect me as well."

Cobb will watch today as the Orioles use Nate Karns as their "opener" in the second game of the season. Hyde is hoping that Karns can work into the third inning and has already alerted a few of his relievers of their likely usage - Jimmy Yacabonis expected to be one of them.

"I'm conflicted on it," Cobb said of the opener strategy. "Honestly, I don't like the idea of it. I think that we're in a position to experiment with it, but I think it causes a lot of uncertainty with the rotation with guys not knowing when they're going. Guys who have been starters their whole career being forced to pitch out of the bullpen, not have their normal routine, so there's a lot more question marks surrounding it for me than, really, the positives.

"I still don't understand the reasoning behind it other than turning the lineup around. Even answering this question I realize I'm not a fan of it, but we'll see how it turns out."

Hyde chose this afternoon because of the off-day that freshened up the bullpen. Cobb's only impact on the early rotation was missing Thursday's game and having Andrew Cashner replace him.

"I don't think I had anything to do with the decision to go with it," Cobb said.

"To have an opener you have to have a well drawn-out plan of the personnel you're going to have, moves that you're going to be able to make over the course of an entire season. You're going to see a lot of moves from Triple-A to the big leagues, I would imagine. You have to have a bullpen full of guys with options, and it's not a fun roster to be on if you're one of those guys, but I'm not going to criticize it too much.

"I think it's something that front offices want to see how it's going to turn out and what it looks like. But honestly, I don't even think it's good for baseball. I don't think anybody really wants to come and watch a guy throw two innings and another guy throw two innings. I just don't think that's very enjoyable to watch, especially with the pace of play that they want to do and all those sorts of things. I don't know."