SF Giants’ Alex Cobb still feeling effects of knee heading into start vs. Yankees

NEW YORK — Alex Cobb said his Saturday start against the Yankees was never in doubt, in his mind. But to others, the Giants’ training staff, perhaps?

“I think I needed more to prove it to other people, probably,” said Cobb, who will match up against New York right-hander Clarke Schmidt Saturday afternoon in the Bronx (1:05 p.m. PT, FOX).

There was some cause for concern, after the swelling in Cobb’s knee, caused by a nasty comebacker in a spring training start, hadn’t subsided after two weeks. It had even moved into his hamstring. He struggled to lift his front leg in his delivery, and his lower leg was bruised black and blue.

Cobb made one more spring start after the initial injury, and he believes he tweaked it sometime after that. The hamstring swelling subsided after about five days, allowing Cobb to get in a final tuneup session earlier this week after the rest of the team had broken camp.

“It looked pretty ugly,” Cobb said. “But once that was gone, I was pretty confident I was going to be fine. The pain of it all, it’s there but it’s not affecting me.”

Manager Gabe Kapler named Cobb his No. 2 starter after the injury — the 35-year-old, who moved up from the No. 5 spot in 2022, said he felt “honored” by the nod — but later voiced concern that he might not be able to make it.

On Monday, Cobb threw a four-inning, 52-pitch session on the backfields at the Giants’ minor-league complex in Arizona. Two days later, the club confirmed Cobb would line up No. 2 behind Logan Webb against the Yankees. Fellow righty Ross Stripling will get the ball in Game 3.

“I think that was the final confirmation everybody was looking for,” Cobb said. “That after I kind of beat it up a little bit it wasn’t going to swell up and create more of an issue going forward. … As long as it’s not affecting my delivery, then I feel confident to go do it.”

There’s physical proof the injury isn’t fully behind Cobb in the form of a large lump on the inside of his left knee. (“I think it looks cool, like a cool little muscle,” Cobb said.) He’s confident it won’t hold him back Saturday, but how about the entire season?

“I’m not 100% confident on that,” Cobb said. “We’ll see. But I don’t think (that it will be an ongoing issue). Just sitting here, talking right now, I don’t think so. But I don’t want to guarantee it.”

— The status of the game is uncertain, due to weather. Rain is in the forecast all morning, but for now, is expected to clear up by first pitch at 4:05 local time.