Imagine standing under the shower, getting ready to wash your hair and reminding yourself, “Better not get any shampoo on the fingers of my right hand.” Such is the life of Guardians pitcher Alex Cobb. Cobb pitched a simulated game Sept. 29 at Progressive Field before the Guardians’ season finale against the Astros was canceled because of rain. Cobb is close to returning from the injured list as he continues to recover from a blood blister on the middle finger of his right hand. “I checked off all the boxes,” Cobb said in the Guardians’ clubhouse after his sim game, which lasted two innings of throwing to batters from his own team. “(The finger) is pretty much healed.” Cobb has had a difficult year, to say the least. He had hip surgery last October when he was with the San Francisco Giants. The Guardians acquired him at the trade deadline on July 30 before he was ready to pitch in the Majors. He made his Guardians debut on Aug. 9 and then five days later, in his second start, ripped the nail on his right index finger while throwing a pitch. The injury landed him on the injured list. Cobb recovered from the fingernail injury and on Sept. 1 pitched six innings without allowing a run in a 6-1 victory over the Pirates, but he developed a blister severe enough that he had to go back on the 15-day injured list. The blood blister is separate from the fingernail injury. Manager Stephen Vogt, whose time with Cobb goes back to 2010 when both players were in the Tampa Bay Rays’ farm system, said Cobb has battled blisters his entire career. So what can Cobb do about it? “There’s laser treatment, skin toughening stuff, anything to promote healing,” Cobb said. “I’ve done it all, all day, every day, it feels like. “You avoid silly things like washing your hair with shampoo with your right hand. You try to stay away from any type of lotion that can soften your skin.” Cobb said the blood blister was like a splinter. “They had to use a little needle and dig out the blood that hardened,’ Cobb said. The Guardians plan to use Cobb as a starter in the playoffs, Vogt said Sept. 29 in his pregame news conference. Cobb said he’ll be prepared for whatever role Vogt and pitching coach Carl Willis think is best. “We’re preparing him to be ready to start,” Vogt said. “Like I said, all along with Alex, we’re going day to day. We have a far-off plan. We have a near-term plan, but we literally have to go day to day.” Every player wants to contribute when the ALDS begins Oct. 5 at Progressive Field against an opponent to be determined, but Cobb really, really wants to play a critical role. He turns 37 on Oct. 7 and knows he won’t have many more chances to win a World Series. Plus, he feels an obligation to the Guardians for making a trade with the Giants (minor league pitcher Jacob Bresnahan and minor league infielder Nate Furman) to acquire him. “Every setback you have, you tell yourself it will be worth it in the end,” Cobb said. “It gets harder and harder when you have these setbacks. “It’s not just the injury. It’s sharpening back up and knocking off the rust when you’ve been out that long. Those are the frustrating things. We all work so hard to get to where we want to be. You keep a positive attitude that at the end of the year you can look back and say it was all worth it.” The plan is for Cobb to pitch in another sim game around Oct. 3.