On the injured list with a left hip impingement, Bailey Ober has made two sharp starts in a rehab assignment with Class AAA St. Paul.
Was it enough to get him ready for the majors again?
“I’m assuming probably, maybe, my next outing,” Ober said from Target Field, where the first 10,000 fans received Bailey Ober Series Connect jerseys. “I don’t know. I threw five innings yesterday. So, obviously it’s right around the corner.”
Bothered by pain in his left hip for several starts this season, Ober was finally sidelined on June 29. He said he took only a few days off before beginning his rehab, which might have concluded on Friday with five innings of two-hit, one-run baseball against the Boston Red Sox’s Triple-A team at CHS Field.
In all, Ober allowed one run in two starts that lasted a combined nine innings. He was struggling, for the first time, in the majors, going 4-6 with a 5.28 earned-run average. He has surrendered 108 hits in 92 major league innings, 21 of them home runs.
Friday’s start, Ober said, was the first time he had felt healthy “in a while. That’s always a positive sign. Step in the right direction.
Ober talked briefly with Twins manager Rocco Baldelli before Saturday night’s game against the Washington Nationals at Target Field, but no decision on his return was made.
The Twins don’t have a starter penciled in for Game 3 of their next series against the Red Sox, or for the first game of a three-game set Friday at Houston.
“We still have some conversations to be had,” Baldelli said.
Festa has shoulder impingement
It would be fortuitous timing for the Twins if Ober can make his next start with the big league club. His replacement, young right-hander David Festa, is on the injured list and learned this week he has a shoulder impingement.
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Festa had a magnetic resonance imaging exam on Monday that revealed inflammation in the front and back of his shoulder, resulting in two cortisone shots received Friday. The imaging found no structural damage, but Festa will be out for a while.
“I love to compete, so I’m pretty bummed right now. But I know I haven’t been 100 percent, even though I’ve been throwing the ball decently,” said Festa, who missed some starts at St. Paul this season because of a similar issue. In 11 starts with the Twins this season, Festa is 3-4 with a 5.40 ERA and has struck out 53 in 53⅓ innings.
“I know there’s still a little bit holding me back,” he said. “So, I knew I had to speak up.”
Briefly
Catcher Ryan Jeffers, expecting a baby with his wife Lexi, was placed on the paternity list. Infielder Mickey Gasper was recalled from St. Paul and was the backup catcher.
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