Twins Spotlight: Episode 38 (Bailey Ober)

Seth Stohs · November 3, 2021

Coming into the 2021 season, the Twins had five veteran starting pitchers. By season's end, the only starting pitcher with his name written in pen on the 2022 Twins starting rotation, and our guest tonight on Twins Spotlight, is Bailey Ober who came up, maybe earlier than planned, and had a terrific rookie campaign.

Join us live tonight at 6:00 pm (central) and send us your questions on the Twins Daily social media platforms, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube pages.

It was some surprise last November when Bailey Ober was one of three players added to the Twins 40-man roster. It wasn't surprising based on his statistics. He had dominated at High-A and Double-A in 2019 to the tune of 100 strikeouts and nine walks in 78 2/3 innings. He was 8-0 with a 0.69 ERA. However, in 2020, he had a missed season. He didn't participate in the Twins 60-player pool at the alternate site in St. Paul. He didn't participate in the November Instructional League either.

While we can all question the decisions to not protect players like Akil Baddoo, Tyler Wells, Jose Miranda and even Sam Clay, the Twins should get credited for protecting Bailey Ober. And Ober made the decision too really good. After starting the season with four starts in St. Paul (16 IP, 2.81 ERA, 5 BB, 21 K), he earned his first big-league promotion and made his debut on May 18th against the White Sox. He was briefly optioned back to St. Paul, but he was with the Twins from June through the remainder of the season.

In 20 starts, he went 3-3 with a 4.19 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. In 92 1/3 innings, he walked just 19 batters and struck out 96 batters. He became the team's most consistent, reliable starters. Just as important, he remained healthy through the remainder of the season. Following the season, he was "handed" the Twins Daily Best Rookie Award and finished second in Top Pitcher voting.

What a year it was for Bailey Ober, and we will discuss it with him tonight! Join us as we go live at 6:00 pm central time. You can participate by sending your questions. We'll cover a ton of topics over about 20-25 minutes.

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Please watch LIVE tonight at 6:00 pm (central time) on the Twins Daily Twitter, Facebook or YouTube pages live. Also feel free to ask questions in the comments below or on those platforms during the show and we'll ask them.

Subscribe to the Twins Daily podcast on Libsyn, Apple iTunes or anywhere you download podcasts.

Here is the YouTube link where you can watch the show live, or later.

For more on Bailey Ober:
Follow him on Instagram at @oberbailey.
Follow him on Twitter at @baileyOB_17.
Click here for Twins Daily articles on Bailey Ober.

Ober was a guest last November, days after he was added to the Twins 40-man roster. You can watch that episode now:

Previous Episodes
Click here to see more previous episodes of Twins Spotlight.

Episode 36: Jose Miranda
Episode 37: Kala'i Rosario

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