A Minnesota starter is lined up for one more turn this weekend, and he admitted he does not know if he will be back next year.
Pitcher Bailey Ober just did something he had never done before in the majors, and now he could be heading into his last start for the Minnesota Twins.
Ober is set to start Saturday afternoon at Target Field against the Texas Rangers, and MLB.com reported that he is aware there is no promise it will not be his final start in a Twins uniform.
A New Role Late
The Twins moved Ober to the bullpen late in the season, and he handled the change well.
On Sunday at Anaheim, he made the first relief appearance of his big league career and threw three scoreless innings behind pitcher Dean Kremer, who went six, to pick up his first career save in an 8-0 win.
He went on the injured list with right elbow inflammation on May 31 and did not come back until July 9, and since then he has pitched with seven or more days of rest in four of his 11 starts.
He is 7-6 with a 4.21 ERA over 24 games, 23 of them starts, and 126 innings.
Manager Derek Shelton said Ober has been very professional about the move and gave him a lot of credit for how he has handled it.
Ober Knows the Numbers Are Tight
Ober was open about his place on the depth chart.
He pointed out that the Twins have eight starters, and he said he, pitchers Joe Ryan and Pablo López and Kremer will all reach free agency in the same year, with a lot of young arms coming up behind them.
"Obviously I'd love to stay here. But you never know," Ober said in his talk with MLB.com.
He is not wrong about the numbers.
Ober made $5.2 million this year and is arbitration eligible in 2027, so he is likely in line for a raise at a time when the Twins have plenty of pitchers to sort through.
Teams have asked about Ryan before, and the same calls could come for Ober this winter.
Keeping him still makes sense, though, because he has taken the ball in whatever role the team asked for, and a pitcher who can start or help in the bullpen is worth a lot over 162 games.
Twins Can Still Play Spoiler
Minnesota is 75-84 and was eliminated from the playoff race last weekend, but this final series means plenty to the other side.
Texas and Houston are both 79-80 and tied atop the American League West, and the Astros hold the tiebreaker, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Ryan starts Friday night against Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom, Ober goes Saturday and Kremer is lined up for Sunday's season finale.
Shortstop Kaelen Culpepper and left fielder Trevor Larnach are both eligible to come off the injured list this weekend, after Larnach went down with a wrist injury last week.
The Twins have used the final week to look at younger players, and Ober gets one more chance to show them what he can do.
A strong start against a team fighting for a division title would be a good way for him to make his case.
