Bailey Ober’s first start of 2025 was eerily similar to his first start of the 2024 season, which was bad news for the Minnesota Twins as it resulted in a 9-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
But this time, it seems there was a little bit more to it.
Ober, who gave up eight hits and eight runs — including a pair of three run homers — and walked three and fanned three across just 2 2/3 innings while taking the loss, was apparently battling illness coming into the game. Ober spent all day Friday sleeping and throwing up, according to The Athletic’s Dan Hayes, and Ryan Jeffers told Hayes Ober was nowhere near full strength. Apparently, Ober wasn’t the only one sick in the clubhouse as Eddy Julien had flu-like symptoms, too.
That certainly explains Ober’s poor performance on Sunday, and the good news is for the Twins is that Ober has a history of bouncing back from a poor first start. After giving up three homers and nine runs in his first start last season against the Kansas City Royals, Ober locked in for the remainder of the year, including a stretch of 11 consecutive quality starts.
Perhaps all it will take is a little recovery for Ober to get back to where he left off last season.
