MLB News: Tiger ban television crew from filming Alex Cobb's simulated game

A television crew stopped setting up its equipment Friday in the press box at Comerica Park at the Detroit Tigers' insistence, rather than film pitcher Alex Cobb's simulated game — an unusual moment of drama for a routine occurrence in baseball.

Drama today at Comerica Park: The #Tigers tried to clear the press box during Alex Cobb's live batting practice session — including two independent reporters. The TV crew was forced to stop setting up and leave, but the reporters stayed put.

Cobb threw two simulated innings.
— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) May 9, 2025

According to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press on Twitter/X, the team also tried to clear the press box of two non-team-affiliated reporters who stayed put.

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The incident is a small but dramatic illustration of the level of control major professional teams can exert over their television partners — and try to exert over reporters with whom they have no business relationship.

The Tigers' regional sports network was renamed FanDuel Sports Network Detroit when the RSN's parent company emerged from bankruptcy in the winter. The new name is one of many recent changes to the RSN.

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Just this week, FanDuel Sports Network Detroit personalities Mickey York and Trevor Thompson were let go as "the Detroit Tigers are going in a different direction with their broadcasts," according to York's Twitter/X post Tuesday.

A 🧵Some personal news: After 25 years with Fox/Bally/Fan Duel Sports Network my position has been eliminated. The Detroit Tigers are going in a different direction with their broadcasts and regretfully I will no longer be a part of those productions. I’m not sure what’s next. I
— Mickey York (@MickeyYorkTV) May 6, 2025

Tony Paul of the Detroit News wrote that, as part of the restructured contract between FanDuel and its partner teams, "the teams received significantly less money, but have been given the leeway to take over more control of the broadcasts."

Apparently, the team did not want its RSN filming an injured pitcher's practice session Friday, and had no problem banning the crew from doing so.

Simulated games are a routine part of a rehabbing pitcher's process. Sometimes those games go well for the pitcher. Sometimes they don't.

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Cobb's lengthy injury history was a known quantity when the Tigers signed him to a $15 million contract for the 2025 season. He is currently working back from an offseason hip procedure.

As Petzold wrote in February when the Tigers revealed Cobb would begin the season on the rehab trail, the 37-year-old right-hander "underwent left hip surgery in October 2023, then was limited in 2024 to three starts in the regular season and two starts in the postseason because of the hip rehabilitation and five injuries. The five injuries: elbow tightness, shoulder discomfort, a broken fingernail, a blood blister and a low back strain."

The Tigers ostensibly felt some reluctance about letting the local media report on Cobb's sim game. As a result, video of his two innings will not be publicly available.

According to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News, the sim game included a moment of reckoning when the pitcher tried covering first base on a ground ball to the right side of the infield.

Alex Cobb, throwing a live BP, did not look comfortable covering first base on a grounder to the right side. He's coming back from a hip procedure. Seemed like he was throwing it OK. Moving off the mound, not so much.
— Chris McCosky (@cmccosky) May 9, 2025

Cobb, McCosky wrote on Twitter/X, "did not look comfortable covering first base on a grounder to the right side."

Drama indeed.

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Team bans TV crew from filming $15 million pitcher's sim game

By J.P. Hoornstra | 2:37 PM EDT