Wednesday BP: Alex Cobb gets to recruiting Shohei Ohtani

Happy Wednesday, San Francisco Giants fans.

On Tuesday the National League beat the American League in the 2023 MLB All-Star Game. It was, remarkably, the first time the National League had won the midseason exhibition since 2012.

The winning pitcher in that game? Matt Cain. The All-Star Game MVP? Melky Cabrera. Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval also played in the contest.

This game only featured two Giants, right-handed pitchers Camilo Doval and Alex Cobb. But each did something very notable. Doval, who pitched a scoreless seventh inning that featured a strikeout of Julio Rodríguez (who had a two-run double in the ninth inning against Doval last week), was awarded the win in this game. Doval obviously became the first San Francisco player to be the pitcher of winning record since Cain, though Johnny Cueto was the losing pitcher in 2016. He became the seventh Giant in San Francisco history to win the All-Star Game, joining Cain, Vida Blue (1981), Gaylord Perry (1966), Juan Marichal (1962 and 1964), Stu Miller (1961), and Johnny Antonelli (1959).

And as for Cobb? Well, he probably had the biggest contribution of the night. And it wasn’t the scoreless fourth inning that he pitched, which included a strikeout of Randy Arozarena. It was the public recruitment of the only player that reached base against him: Shohei Ohtani. Speaking about the two-way sensation, who is not only the clear-cut best player in baseball but also approaching free agency, Cobb said that, “I’d be thrilled if there was some avenue for us to get him at the deadline and sign him long term during this offseason,” and then added a flair of confidence, saying, “He’s coming to San Francisco.”

We can dream, Alex. And I intend to.