Twins Place Bailey Ober on Injured List with Hip Impingement, Promote Kody Funderburk

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

The Twins placed righthander Bailey Ober on the injured list Wednesday, citing a left hip impingement. That Ober was dealing with pain and/or a compromised range of motion in that hip has been no secret for a solid month, but because the issue began to flare just when Pablo López and Zebby Matthews were felled by shoulder trouble, Ober pitched through it for as long as possible. It was a noble and necessary gamble on his part. Teammates respected his willingness to do it, and the organization would have had to scramble furiously to fill his rotation spot in the aftermath of the López and Matthews injuries.

However, the results were hideous. Ober's starts became increasingly non-competitive, with uncharacteristic bouts of wildness and far, far too many home runs by opposing batters. That Ober continued to absorb innings and take pressure off the bullpen in most of those discouraging outings added another layer of value for the team, but it was untenable. Now, the scramble they briefly delayed is on.

Kody Funderburk will become a ninth man in the team's bullpen for the final two games of their road trip, but the question is who will take Ober's place in the starting rotation on Friday—and, in all likelihood, for the one start left between that game and the All-Star break. The most likely candidates are Marco Raya and Travis Adams, each of whom is on the 40-man roster and each of whom have pitched bulk innings all year for the St. Paul Saints. Raya is the one on schedule for a Friday appearance, although the team could always use a bullpen day or shuffle their rotation a bit.

This is also why the team acquired Connor Gillispie and José Ureña in recent days. Gillispie is also on the 40-man roster, and since none stand out based on performance or short-term upside, Gillispie, Adams and Raya can all be considered co-favorites for that spot in the rotation over the next fortnight. If, as seems likely, the Twins slouch out of the playoff race entirely and become sellers this month, there could be opportunities for more than one of that quartet, as the team would be more likely to handle Ober, López and Matthews carefully—and could field calls on both Chris Paddack and Joe Ryan before the trade deadline.

Ober has become a walking symbol of the team's season. He made a valiant effort to work through adversity and find success, but he's been unable to do his best work almost all year, and now, it looks like it'll be a lost year for him. It might well be so for the team, too. Hopefully, at the very least, some rest will bring relief and help Ober get back into a groove near the end of this year, and he can return to his previous form in 2026. Nothing is guaranteed, though, especially for 6-foot-9 pitchers.

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[LA Vikes Fan]

This had to happen. Promoting Funderburk was the right call so we had the extra LH reliever., Anything to avoid having to pitch Joey Wendel. I think the next move is Adams for Wendel and/or a switch to a 4 man rotation until the ASB. The 4 man rotation is my preference. 

By the way, I don't think the open hole in the rotation is until Saturday. All 4 remaining starters can pitch on regular rest Tuesday through Friday. The issue is Ryan and SWR on 3 days rest Saturday and Sunday. Then, with the Monday off day, everyone stays on regular rest until  Saturday and Sunday the 12th and 13th where you'd have Festa and Paddack on 3 days rest. 

I would go with  a 4 man rotation and bring up Adams as a long reliver/bulk man to cover any shorter starts. There just isn't anyone in AAA that deserves an MLB start right now. 

[Vanimal46]

Credit to him for trying to give the team innings when there was no one else capable of doing so. Unfortunately it was hurting more than helping the team, and this decision came about 3 weeks too late. 

[TwinsDr2021]

Wouldn't it be nice if we had a healthy young hot shot pitcher in the minors that we could bring up and let them try to pitch for 5 innings. Sadly........

Seem this was bound to happen and hopefully isn't a season ending injury. 

[MMMordabito]

Please don't field calls on Joe Ryan.  Can we keep at least one nice thing?

[dberthia]

But everybody was saying he was just fine? LOL. This team treats injury news like the nuclear launch codes. It was obvious to any casual observer there was something physical going on.

[PuckettProtector]

To me Ryan is untouchable. He's having a hell of a year and he seems to only be getting better. 

[jmlease1]

Good. It needed to happen. Ober wasn't doing anyone any favors by continuing to try and gut through this and try to find mechanical fixes while compensating for a ding. Hells bells, some people around here were ready to throw everything he'd accomplished in his MLB career prior to 2025 out the window because he'd struggled so much for a month.

Get some rest on the hip, try to get right physically, and then adjust the mechanics in a rehab assignment. See you after the all-star break, Bailey. Funderburk for now seems fine, but wouldn't mind seeing Adams get a chance

He'll be back. And I think he'll be good again.

[Rhyno006]

Joe Ryan for Aaron Judge is the only trade I'd accept at this point.

 

[AceWrigley]

14 minutes ago, dberthia said:

But everybody was saying he was just fine? LOL. This team treats injury news like the nuclear launch codes. It was obvious to any casual observer there was something physical going on.

We've known for some time that Ober was having "issues" and was trying to pitch through it. The dude is a warrior but it really was past time to sideline him for whatever time is necessary.

[DJL44]

Freely available: Jake Woodford

Are they going to give the start to Wentz?

 

[dberthia]

3 minutes ago, AceWrigley said:

We've known for some time that Ober was having "issues" and was trying to pitch through it. The dude is a warrior but it really was past time to sideline him for whatever time is necessary.

Maybe I should've worded my post differently. While they knew he had issues and said so, they were still publicly saying he was just fine to pitch. He was not.

[AceWrigley]

2 minutes ago, dberthia said:

Maybe I should've worded my post differently. While they knew he had issues and said so, they were still publicly saying he was just fine to pitch. He was not.

I hear ya. He was probably cleared medically in that pitching wouldn't make it worse, the Twins like most organizations don't want to broadcast any weaknesses to the opposition, and we haven't had any clear replacement should he be taken out of the rotation.

[LastOnePicked]

59 minutes ago, MMMordabito said:

Please don't field calls on Joe Ryan.  Can we keep at least one nice thing?

I hear you, but I think we need a championship run more than we need one nice thing. There isn't enough of a team here to surround him with. Plus, if he drops a bit in velocity it'll be the Ober situation all over again. It's time for the Twins to actually sell high on some players.

[Riverbrian]

The Milwaukee Brewers had 17 different players make starts for them in 2024. Two or three of those were openers so let's say 14. 

The Brewers have already utilized 14 different players to make starts for them in 2025. I think one was an opener so let's ay 13. 

The Minnesota Twins had 8 different players make starts for them in 2024. 

The Minnesota Twins have already utilized 7 different players to make starts for them in 2024. 

Interesting Fact: The exact same pitchers for the Twins by the way. Only Louie Varland hasn't made a start for them this year because he's in the bullpen. 

Anyway... Pitching injuries are nothing new.

It is up to the front office to be ready for this sort of thing. 

We will see if they are. 

I have my popcorn and I'm ready to watch how it plays out.  

[CRF]

This should have been done weeks ago. He's been getting shelled every time he pitches. The F.O. is so bad about making these kinds of moves it's ridiculous. Sure it's commendable that Ober is trying to "gut it out" and take his turn, but he sure as hell wasn't helping the team. Get him healthy and then get him back out there. 

[Linus]

I’m glad they pulled the plug. Biomechanics are tricky things - if he compensated for the hip with a bad movement it could injure his arm which would be really bad. 

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, PuckettProtector said:

To me Ryan is untouchable. He's having a hell of a year and he seems to only be getting better. 

Ryan and Buck are the guys that are key long term parts; it's coastal bias that these articles are popping up saying they can be had for a song..

[Doctor Gast]

IMO, the best thing that they could have done was to put Ober on the IL right away before Lopez went down so the sore hip wouldn't get worse, sooner he'd be back & sooner they could sort through what to do. The rotation was thin when Lopez went down & was starting to unravel. I advocated to pick up an inning eater & set up long relief, back when Ober was sick & complaining about his hip. IMO, we don't have anyone in the system to step up & help us try to look competitive. It has been about a month since Lopez has been down & nothing has been done. I suggested our good friend Kyle Gibson. He's ready to go now.

[Doctor Gast]

15 minutes ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

I say let's give Raya a chance.

I'm all for giving Raya a chance if he was tearing up AAA, but IMO, he hasn't. We need long relief, period, especially if Raya comes up maybe 2 long RPs.

[darin617]

Funderburk will stay up, Wentz will get DFA, and Conner Gillipse will get the start. Raya isn't ready so there's no point in calling him up.

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, dberthia said:

Maybe I should've worded my post differently. While they knew he had issues and said so, they were still publicly saying he was just fine to pitch. He was not.

What did you expect the team to say? Everyone knew. 

[T.O.]

3 hours ago, dberthia said:

This team treats injury news like the nuclear launch codes. 

I've never understood why they do that in many cases. How does that help or protect anyone/anything?

[mikelink45]

Sorry, but being gutsy and taking the mound when you cannot deliver is not a favor to the team.  We could all see the problems and the results and read about the hip.

[jorgenswest]

It is difficult to distinguish between soreness and injury. A player needs to be injured to go on the IL. Two starts back Ober was saying it was mechanics and that he has pitched through much worse. If he isn’t going to acknowledge the injury and there isn’t imaging to show a clear injury then I don’t see how they can use the IL. It seems kind of similar to when Joe Ryan pitched through soreness/injury. Was there also a similar situation with Kirilloff? In that case didn’t the Twins have to option him before he would acknowledge the injury?

Part of being a successful athlete is fighting through pain. Our medical staff has to help players find that line between pain and injury better.

 

[Blyleven2011]

16 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Sorry, but being gutsy and taking the mound when you cannot deliver is not a favor to the team.  We could all see the problems and the results and read about the hip.

And as one member posted today and i posted weeks ago , having an injury in the lower part of your body can jeopardize the risk of hurting the arm or shoulder by pitching differently  ...

[twinstalker]

Or they could take Raya off the 40, put literally any other pitcher on it, and start that pitcher.

[jkcarew]

Funderburk takes on the Jonah Bride roll on the mound for a week.

Although, he may be a slightly better hitter than Bride.

[DJL44]

4 hours ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

I say let's give Raya a chance.

I think he'll suck, but they might as well give him a start. Then if he earns his way back and the game actually matters he won't be starstruck.

[DJL44]

4 hours ago, darin617 said:

Funderburk will stay up, Wentz will get DFA, and Conner Gillipse will get the start. Raya isn't ready so there's no point in calling him up.

This is the most likely scenario, though it does nothing for this year or the future.