Ober goes five strong in return from the IL

He’ll be followed by Taj Bradley on Saturday afternoon and Zebby Matthews on Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. The expectation is that Joe Ryan would then start on Monday against the Guardians in Cleveland. Ober is coming off of a decent first half where he registered a 4.40 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and a 51/19 K/BB ratio over 71 2/3 innings in his first 13 starts.

This had been reported earlier, and we thought that Mike Paredes would shift back into long relief, but now that Connor Preilipp (blister) is headed to the injured list, the Twins will have to keep a bullpen game going for a bit. Ober, who had been out since the end of May with a flexor strain, has a 4.59 ERA in 66 2/3 innings this season and should be avoided in fantasy leagues.

There are plenty of moving parts here. Simply put, Mike Paredes will shift to a long relief role in place of rookie Marco Raya, who is headed to the injured list with a shoulder impingement, with Ober returning to Minnesota’s rotation. The 30-year-old has been out with a mild flexor strain that put him on the shelf back in late May. His immediate fantasy appeal is limited to deeper mixed leagues as a matchup-dependent back-end rotation option.

Ober kicked off a rehab assignment by allowing three runs over 3 1/3 innings for High-A Cedar Rapids last Sunday. The 30-year-old starter is working his way back from a mild flexor strain that put him on the shelf back in late May. He figures to be ready to rejoin Minnesota’s pitching mix at some point in early-to-mid July. His fantasy appeal is limited to deeper mixed leagues as a matchup-dependent back-end rotation arm.

Ober will receive a second opinion to confirm that his UCL remains intact, but it’s an extremely encouraging initial diagnosis after hitting the injured list with elbow inflammation over the weekend. There should be a definitive return table once he’s cleared to resume throwing later this month.

Ober was pounded for eight runs (seven earned) over 4 2/3 innings in a loss to the Pirates on Sunday and it sounds like the elbow issue may have played a role in his struggles. No word from the team yet on how long they expect him to be sidelined for. Travis Adams was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul in a corresponding move on Sunday.

Ober gave up a leadoff homer to Spencer Horwitz in the first inning and stranded two more runners with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning. Things really got away from him in the second, starting with a solo homer by Jake Mangum. The Pirates brought two more runs in on three hits and a walk, leaving two runners on for Oneil Cruz, who took Ober deep for a three-run blast. The Twins left Ober in to give them a little more length. He’d pitch into the fifth, giving up one more run and leaving with two outs in the inning. The 30-year-old right-hander has now given up 14 runs over his last three starts, giving him a 4.59 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and a 46/18 K/BB ratio across 66 2/3 innings. He’ll take on the Royals in Minnesota on Thursday.

Ober gave up seven hits, walked none and struck out three. He improved to 6-2 with the win. Ober allowed a solo home run in the second inning to Masataka Yoshida, which was his first of the season. The hard contact continued in the fourth inning as the Red Sox started the inning with a double by Wilyer Abreu, a two-run home run by Willson Contreras and a double by Yoshida. Ober has a 3.92 ERA this year, but his xFIP is 4.74. He’s lined up to face the Pirates on the road next weekend.

Although he gave up homers to Garrett Mitchell and Christian Yelich and struck out just one batter today, Ober left with a 4-3 lead and was rewarded with his fifth win. Ober generated only three missed swings, all coming on his changeup. His ERA rose to 3.63 ahead of next weekend’s start in Boston.

He fanned seven. Ober threw just 89 pitches, matching Sonny Gray for the lowest total in a shutout since 2022. 89 was also how hard he threw his fastball tonight, or 88.6 mph to be exact. He gave up four hard-hit balls the 34 times he threw that pitch but just one on his other 55 offerings. Ober is now 4-2 with a 3.46 ERA despite his velocity being down 1.6 mph from last year. He also lost 1.5 mph from 2024 to 2025, and his ERA ballooned to 5.10 that season. Given that he’s a flyball pitcher with a modest 18.6 percent strikeout rate, it remains very difficult to recommend him in mixed leagues. This is really impressive what he’s doing, though. He’ll take on the Brewers on Sunday.