CLEVELAND — Alex Cobb had waited 11 years for an opportunity like this, but he still had work to do to ensure it wouldn't pass him by.

Cobb, who was acquired by the Guardians at the trade deadline, hasn't pitched in the postseason since 2013, when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays. Cleveland fans will remember one of those starts well — the right-hander was on the mound during the 2013 wild card game, pitching 6⅔ scoreless innings to help end Cleveland's season.

Cobb made one more postseason start that October — he was again solid against the Boston Red Sox — and he hasn't touched a baseball in the playoffs ever since.

"On the one hand, it feels like it's flown by, and then you look back at all the things that have happened and it feels like a really long time," Cobb said. "I vividly remember coming off [the field] after the celebration here in that wild card game, just looking around and just thinking I can't wait to be back in this moment."

He had to wait, and wait, and wait. Finally, he was in position as Cleveland secured a playoff spot, but his status on the Guardians playoff roster was put into jeopardy by a blister in September. He didn't pitch after Sept 1. The six days between the end of the regular season and when the Guardians had to set their playoff roster became vital for Cobb, who had to show he was sharp enough after the layoff to start a postseason game.

Cobb threw in a few sim games, which effectively became his tryout to break that long wait between starting playoff games.

"That [sim game] felt to me like a regular-season game because I'm trying my hardest to show an organization that they can have trust in my, that my stuff is sharp," Cobb said. "I was kind of living and dying on every single pitch of those two sim games to give them the confidence that I was ready."

MLB playoffs: Alex Cobb set to take mound for Guardians in ALDS Game 3

He was successful. Cobb is set to start Wednesday's ALDS Game 3 in Detroit. An 11-year wait — more than 4,000 days — can come to a close that afternoon at Comerica Park.

"I think there's probably nobody in these playoffs that appreciates it more than I do after being away from being in this for so long," Cobb said. "It's hard to even think about all the things that had to happen for me to get back to it."

Part of the question about Cobb's inclusion on the ALDS roster wasn't just if he was healthy enough, it was if he could transition straight from a sim game in an empty ballpark to an unwelcoming playoff setting in Detroit. The Guardians went to work making the sim games as beneficial as possible.

MLB playoffs: Guardians ALDS Game 1 win over Tigers led by 'Guards Ball,' Tanner Bibee and Cade Smith

"We created a very tough environment for him the other day with the crowd noise, with having our guys hitting against him with a full field," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "We all put our heads together on how we can make it game-like. We ramped up each day. … The crowd noise, we turned it down a little so that we could talk some trash.

"And he even said, he goes, 'I'm ready.'"

It was all in trying to prepare Cobb for a moment for which he has been waiting 11 years. His wait is over Wednesday.

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Guardians MLB playoffs: Alex Cobb to start ALDS Game 3