Cobb grateful for opening stint in majors

ST. PETERSBURG – At first Alex Cobb didn't even realize that the Saturday night Tropicana Field crowd of 20,495 was sending him off with the loudest ovation he'd ever received.

"I was just so upset about walking Hanley (Ramirez with one out in the seventh)," Cobb said."But the crowd was cheering me on really hard and that kind of lifted me up.

"I mean, I was just so mad at myself that I didn't really take the time to appreciate it the way I wish I had. It was louder than I ever (heard) coming off, and they applauded me pretty well the last time."

Cobb needn't worry about his failure to properly soak up a well-deserved round of applause. After the way he pitched Saturday in leading the Tampa Bay Rays to a 7-4 victory over the Marlins, he's sure to hear send-offs like that again.

And at the big-league level, too. Though he was sent back to Triple-A Durham after Saturday's game to make way for the return of Jeff Niemann on Monday, Cobb hasn't seen the last of big-league hitters.

"Great poise, really good stuff," Rays manager Joe Maddon said of Cobb's three-hit, two-walk, 6 1/3-inning effort Saturday. "He's going to be a very good major-league pitcher."

The only question that has to be answered then is when. Maddon didn't have an answer for that, but it's apparent now that Cobb (2-0) will be back in the big leagues sooner rather than later.

"He's aware that he can play here now, that he belongs here now, and he's going to be able to go back (to the minors) and work on some specific items and hopefully when he comes back it will be to stay," Maddon said.

That's certainly how Cobb wants it. He admitted that his stint with the Rays, which started with his recall May 1 and included five appearances, was intoxicating.

"Everything you do up here is positive," he said. "It's just sugar-coated to the extreme and its going to make me so much more hungry to come back. It's a blast every second that you're up here.

"It was a bonus to even be up here for as long as I was and it's been an unbelievable experience for me. It's only going to help me with my career."

What will help Cobb more, Maddon said, is realizing just how good his fastball really is and learning to trust not only that pitch but a few others as he tries to work his way back to Tropicana Field.

"I just talked to him a little bit about some strategy things when he pitches, the usage of his fastball because he's got a good one and a lot of guys aren't really convicted to using it," Maddon said of the talk he had with Cobb when he informed him of his impending return to Durham.

"I want him to be really aware of that because it's a really good pitch and sometimes (pitchers) undersell what they're able to do. Pitchers think they have to trick hitters all the time to get them out and he doesn't have to.

"So we were very specific with what he has to work on while he down there. But he's a wonderful young man, and he gets it, and I'm sure he's going to make some really good adjustments."