Alex Cobb Injured: Tampa Bay Rays Return to 5-Man Rotation

Tampa Bay Rays rookie pitcher Alex Cobb has been placed on the 15-day disabled list after injuring his hand in Saturday night’s loss to the Oakland A’s. Prior to the injury, Joe Maddon and the Rays had been utilizing a six-man rotation due to the surplus of good starting pitchers on the roster.

 “We’ll start setting it up as of today and you’ll start seeing a regular five-man,” Maddon said prior to Sunday’s rubber match against the A’s.

Maddon also made mention that Cobb didn’t alert him of what he was feeling through the game.

“Off and on, he just felt this thing and he didn’t want to say anything about it," Maddon said. "I’m glad I got him out when we did, retrospectively.”

The Rays are currently still mathematically alive in the American League playoff race. In order for the team to have any hope at qualifying for the postseason or the slim chance at repeating as AL East champions, the team will need all hands on deck.

They cannot afford to be down a single hitter, reliever or especially a starting pitcher. Pitching is the backbone of how the Rays conduct their business.

Standing 10 games out in the Wild Card race, it will be pivotal for the team to remain healthy through August so that they can still be alive in September.

Jamal Wilburg is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained first hand.

You can follow him on Twitter @JWilburg