The Tampa Bay Rays were expecting big things out of ace-in-waiting Alex Cobb this season, but Cobb hasn't pitched yet because of a forearm injury. He suffered a setback Monday and was shut down.
Now the news has gotten worse — worse in a could-need-surgery kind of way.
Marc Topkin, the Rays beat writer for the Tampa Bay Times, is reporting that Cobb has a partially torn ligament in his elbow. That, of course, is a big deal. Topkin couches his reporting by calling it "informed speculation," but Topkin covers the Rays beat well, so we're inclined to believe him.