Did the Twins Mishandle Bailey Ober in 2023?

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was clear with Bailey Ober as spring training began. He was the sixth arm in the starting rotation and was only making the Opening Day roster if one of the arms in front of him was not ready. The Twins had been plagued by injuries in 2022, so it seemed likely for the injury bug to bite one of the starters. However, that wouldn't be the case. Ober pitched well in the spring by allowing three earned runs on four hits with a 0.70 WHIP and batters posting a .121 BA. On the depth chart, there were veterans ahead of him, so the Twins sent him to Triple-A. 

Ober said all the appropriate things when he was demoted, but it had to be frustrating for a pitcher with a proven track record at the big-league level. From 2021-22, he posted a 3.82 ERA with a 1.15 WHIP and a 147-to-30 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 148 1/3 innings. Injuries had been the biggest hindrance to Ober's performance, as he had never pitched more than 108 innings in any professional season. The Twins needed to monitor Ober's innings, especially if he stayed healthy for the entire season. 

Ober's time with the Saints got off to a poor start. In his first two starts, he didn't make it out of the fourth inning and allowed five earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. Mentally, the demotion had to impacted his performance, but he turned it around from there. Over his next two starts, he pitched 11 shutout innings while limiting batters to five hits and striking out 12. Tyler Mahle suffered a season-ending injury at the big-league level, and Ober was the next man up. 

After the call-up, Ober became one of the team's most consistent and effective starting pitchers. In his first 16 starts (94 2/3 IP), he posted a 2.76 ERA with a 90-to-18 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Batters hit .215/.262/.366 (.628) against him, and it looked like Ober was lining up to be one of the team's starting pitchers in October. Unfortunately, Ober hit a wall as the calendar turned to August while he also passed a new career-high in innings pitched. 

Over his subsequent six appearances, Ober's performance struggled mightily. He allowed 21 earned runs in 28 innings with opponents hitting .328/.377/.588 (.965) against him, including eight home runs. The Twins decided it was time for Ober to get a breather, and the only way to make that happen was to demote him to Triple-A for the second time. 

"Bailey is as professional a young man as you're ever going to find in this game," Baldelli said. "The way he conducts himself every day of his life is very impressive, and I've had several conversations with him over the last couple of years that were not easy. Today was not an easy conversation, but I think long term, this setup, this move that we're making right now, is going to benefit him."

Throughout the season's second half, the Twins had talked about finding subtle ways to limit Ober's innings. Some options included using piggybacking, a six-man rotation, or skipping starts to push back his spot in the order. During the 2021 season, he pitched 108 1/3 innings, a career high. Previously, he had never surpassed 80 innings in any of his seven professional seasons. Between Triple-A and the Majors, he has combined for 140 1/3 innings while also staying relatively healthy. He might be out of gas, but it's a critical time of the year to miss one of the team's best starters. 

Seeing how the Twins handle Ober for the season's remaining games will be interesting. He will get a few extra days to rest before he starts throwing again for the Saints. It also remains to be seen if the team will continue to use him as a starter. Minnesota already transitioned Louie Varland from a starter to a relief role for the stretch run, but Ober might not be the best candidate to move to the bullpen. The best strategy might be to give him shorter starts with someone ready to piggyback him so he can stay stretched out. 

Ober has proven himself at the big-league level and is part of the team's long-term plan for the starting rotation. It's tough not to think he's gotten the short end of the stick on multiple occasions this year. The team demoted him two times even though he had a proven track record at the big-league level. Also, the club talked about limiting his innings during the year, but that never came to fruition. Instead, he finds himself at Triple-A while the Twins fight for the division title. 

Perhaps the Twins followed the appropriate strategy with Ober by running him out there regularly until his performance started to suffer. However, the optics of the entire situation are not great from Ober's point of view. He lost service time at both ends of the season because of decisions made by the front office. The team will stress that it is the best thing for his health, but there were other ways to handle him during the season so he could be part of the team for the stretch run. 

Do you feel the Twins have handled Ober appropriately this season? Should veterans be treated differently by the front office? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.