After impressive '24, Ober hoping to maintain consistent presence

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Twins right-hander Bailey Ober will not be the Opening Day starter against the Cardinals on March 27 in St. Louis. The nod will go to right-hander Pablo L¨®pez.

However, Ober, 29, was coined by manager Rocco Baldelli as Minnesota's "Mr. Consistent¡± because of the productive season he had in 2024. He led the Twins' pitching staff in bWAR (2.9) and was nine strikeouts short of reaching 200. Ober's changeup is off the charts and it¡¯s his go-to pitch. In fact, opponents were 33-for-214 (.154) with 84 strikeouts against that pitch.

Ober also had the distinction of pitching the team¡¯s only complete game, which occurred on June 22 against the Athletics. He threw 89 pitches in that game, becoming the first pitcher with a nine-inning complete game and 10 strikeouts or more on fewer than 90 pitches since David Cone¡¯s perfect game on July 18, 1999.

But it¡¯s more than Ober¡¯s mound presence that has impressed Baldelli. Ober¡¯s work ethic is second to none, according to the skipper.

¡°I saw more of the same from Bailey. He has been as reliable of a pitcher as we have had in the last few seasons,¡± Baldelli said. ¡°He makes excellent small adjustments. He is a tremendous strike-thrower.

¡°You just know you are going to have a really good chance to win a game almost every time he touches the ball. What else do you want as a manager or as a teammate or a coach? That is what you are looking for. That¡¯s what we got from him -- from beginning to end last year. He was really something. The changeup probably took a step forward from good to great.¡±

Ober loves the moniker that Baldelli gave him. Ober indicated that he was successful on the mound last year because Baldelli has been a calming influence on him.

¡°Whenever you have the manager¡¯s confidence in you, it¡¯s a really good feeling that you can go out there, perform, do the job and he is going to let you do that,¡± Ober said. ¡°His presence is really calm whenever he is around me. He is not really animated. He is a relaxing presence whenever we have conversations and whenever he tries to lift me up. It¡¯s something to lower anxiety when you are out there, knowing that he is doing what he can to support me. He is going to let me take the ball and go as deep as I can.¡±

If one spends some time with Ober, it¡¯s obvious that baseball is in his blood. It has been that way since he was 5 years old while growing up in North Carolina. His father, Dan, is a huge sports fan and he influenced his son to watch a lot of baseball games on TV.

¡°Of all the sports that we watched, baseball is the sport that I loved,¡± Ober said. ¡°I can remember me, my brother and my dad playing catch when we were 5, 6 years old. We would try to do diving plays, because that¡¯s what we saw on TV with all the superstars. We were that age trying to do the crazy SportsCenter top 10 plays. That¡¯s always something we¡¯ve loved. I¡¯m just fortunate enough to keep playing.¡±

Ober hopes to be a top-10 pitcher in the big leagues in ¡¯25. When asked if he could raise the bar and get 250 strikeouts this season, Ober said, ¡°That means I probably have to get 220 innings. That sounds good to me. We¡¯ll see what happens. I¡¯ll go as far as I can, as much as I can.

¡°I¡¯m excited for the future. I think I have lots to improve on. I think I can be a better pitcher than I am now for sure. If I wiped out two games last year, the numbers are pretty darn good. If I limit the blowups a little bit, I feel like I would be in a great spot.¡±