Twins right-hander Bailey Ober pitched while sick from a viral infection Sunday afternoon, manager Rocco Baldelli said. It's possible the virus is actually the state of Missouri.
Ober got hammered by the St. Louis Cardinals to the flat tune of eight runs (all earned) over 2 2/3 innings in a 9-2 loss at Busch Stadium, where the Twins dropped all three games of their season-opening series.
Ober's results mirrored his first start a year ago March 31 at Kansas City, in which he also allowed eight runs. Show me Ober's career ERA in Missouri: 7.63, in eight career starts over 33 innings combined at Busch and Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Truthfully, it's the Royals at home who have done most of the Missouri mashing against Ober.
One of Ober's best career starts even came at Kauffman Stadium in early September, in a game the Twins bullpen couldn't hold a two-run in the eighth inning. And his previous start at Busch went OK in 2021. It just feels better, possibly, to identify an entire state as the reason that Ober's Mizzou numbers are so poor.
Excise the state of Missouri, and Ober has a 3.61 ERA in 441 career innings. More likely against the Cardinals, it was the combination of an illness and the opposing lineup being on top of its game.
Ober reportedly spent "all day sleeping and puking" Friday, and received an IV on Saturday, reported Dan Hayes in The Athletic. Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers said the illness was the reason Ober wasn't close to full strength. Ober was able to reach 92 mph on his fastball in the first inning — about 2-3 mph quicker than he was throwing at the end of Spring Training. But his command wasn't ideal, he didn't get a few borderline calls from the plate umpire, and the Cardinals wouldn't chase pitches farther off the plate, leading to a 28-pitch first inning.
Baldelli said the staff discussed skipping Ober but the he wanted to pitch, so they decided to roll with him. Edouard Julien has been feeling under the weather also, possibly with the same illness.
How bad will this get?
The Twins fell to 0-3 for the first time 2016, so they're in the running still for their worst start over, which is 0-9 to begin that season. For more information on the worst starts in Twins history, check out this post from earlier Sunday.
Now, don't take this the wrong way, Randy, but...
Aside from Joe Ryan's state Saturday, right-hander Randy Dobnak's 5 1/3 innings of relief has been the best individual performance so far in a Twins uniform this season. He allowed a run and two hits to go with two walks and a strikeouts over 79 pitches. The Cards spoiled his "shutout" thanks to a solo homer by Nolan Gorman in the bottom of the seventh.
After the game, the Twins positioned themselves to dessignate Dobnak for assignment. It would not a surprising move, and probably done in order bring in a fresh arm to the bullpen after what essentially was a start's worth of pitches. Because of Dobnak's relatively high salary and his limited service time which makes it unlikely he would refuse a minor-league assignment, it figures to limit the chances (to zero) of other teams claiming him on waivers.
The Twins likely expect him to clear so they outright him to Triple-A Saint Paul. They have options like Scott Blewett and left-hander Anthony Misiewicz while Brock Stewart goes on what's expected to be a short rehab assignment, but it gets complicated after that if the Twins want to keep Blewett and Misiewicz in the organization (but off the 26-man roster) beyond a few more days.
Who is hitting?
Willi Castro: .400/.455/1.000 with a home run, three doubles and thre RBIs