Will Kobos

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2018
R+:  2-2-2, 7.11 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 31.2 IP, 5.4 BB/9, 11.9 K/9

Kobos pitched mostly in relief for Bristol, although he also made three spot starts in which he threw only limited innings.  For whatever reason, he was wildly less effective as a starter:  Opponents had an OPS against him of 1.156 in the three starts and .555 in relief appearances.  Overall, he had control issues, but also missed a lot of bats.

2019
A-:  1-3-0, 6.05 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 19.1 IP, 3.3 BB/9, 7.5 K/9
A:  2-3-0, 2.12 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 34.0 IP, 4.8 BB/9, 10.9 K/9

Kobos had an odd season.  He stayed in extended spring training until West Virginia started play, then joined the Black Bears’ rotation.  He struggled through five starts, with opponents batting .311 against him.  The Pirates, however, moved him up to Greensboro and he was far more effective in seven starts, despite a sharp increase in his walk rate.  His K rate also increased sharply and opponents batted just .144 against him.  At the latter stop he pitched exactly five innings every time out, except for one game in which he threw four no-hit innings.  He also had a five-inning, no-hit outing, as well as another in which he fanned ten.  The truth was probably somewhere in between.  Despite the large disparities in ERAs, his xFIP was about the same.  In fact, it was lower at West Virginia, 3.58 to 3.80.

2020
DNP

2021
A+:  6-2-5, 2.16 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 41.2 IP, 5.0 BB/9, 14.7 K/9

Kobos pitched mainly in short relief for Greensboro.  What trouble he had came mostly from walks, as opponents batted 130/251/233 against him.  In August he was nearly unhittable, allowing just two hits and three walks, and fanning 18 in 7.2 IP.  Unfortunately, he went out with an unknown injury late in the month and did not return.  Kobos pitched almost identically at home and on the road, so the Greensboro park didn’t affect him.

2022
R:  0-1-0, 9.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, 1.0 IP, 0.0 BB/9, 27.0 K/9
A:  1-0-0, 4.91 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 3.2 IP, 7.4 BB/9, 7.4 K/9
A+:  0-0-0, 9.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2.0 IP, 0.0 BB/9, 4.5 K/9
AA:  2-0-1, 3.77 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, 14.1 IP, 9.4 BB/9, 11.3 K/9

The Pirates assigned Kobos to Altoona in late April and he made a dozen appearances.  He continued to miss bats, but he missed the strike zone nearly as often.  In mid-June, Kobos went on the 60-day injured list with a hamstring injury.  He returned in time to make five rehab appearances at lower levels, but he didn’t get back to Altoona.

Kobos seems to have the stuff to continue advancing, but the control and injury problems are holding him back.