Bailey Ober will open second half for Twins Friday

Bradley surrendered a solo homer in the first, two runs on a single, a walk and a double in the second and two more runs on two walks, a single and a double in the third. If not for the free baserunners, it would have been a fine outing. As is, he took his first loss since June 9. Bradley fanned six. He’s 12th in the majors with 124 strikeouts but also tied for 14th with 43 walks. He’ll take a 3.85 ERA into his next start in Cleveland.

Two walks allowed by Ober in the first inning proved costly after Michael Busch singled to drive home Pete Crow-Armstrong to put the Cubs up 1-0. Ober allowed a leadoff double to Seiya Suzuki in the sixth inning but would get Michael Busch to ground out before being pulled in favor of Tommy Nance. Nance would throw a wild pitch to allow Suzuki to score, with that run being credited to Ober. It was a solid night for Ober overall, who settled in nicely after allowing three baserunners to reach base in the first inning. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in back-to-back games and will take the mound next on Wednesday against the Guardians.

Ryan left with a one-run lead, which was blown in the seventh by Tommy Nance in his Twins debut. So, he finishes the first half 6-5 with a 2.85 ERA. Ryan has produced 11 quality starts, which doesn’t count a couple of outings in which he pitched five-plus scoreless innings.

Matthews was on roll early in this game. His slider had plenty of bite, he was missing bats, and he got through the first three innings without a blemish. Then, things unraveled in the following two frames with the low point being a balk that forced home a run. Still, he settled down just enough to get through the sixth inning despite walking a batter and giving up two singles, bailed out by a double play and heads up play by Kody Clemens to tag Wade Meckler trying to take an uncovered second base. Regardless, Matthews closed out an uneven first half with a 4.57 ERA, 54 strikeouts, and 18 walks across 67 innings.

It was Ober’s first start since May 30th as he’s been on the IL with elbow inflammation. The 30-year-old struck out five and walked one on Thursday while throwing 65 percent of his pitches for strikes. His four-seam velocity was 88.2 mph, which is not great but actually not too far off from what we’ve seen from him this year. The calling card on Thursday was a sweeper that posted a 45 percent swinging strike rate. He struggled to miss bats with anything else, and his velocity still scares us, so we would not be adding him with the Cubs up next.

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.

Bradley was outstanding again, and this makes back-to-back starts where the 25-year-old has struck out double-digit hitters. The only run allowed was a solo homer by Rhys Hoskins, and sans that, he had zero issue disposing of the Cleveland lineup while picking up his eighth victory of the season and lowering his ERA to 3.67. After going through a bit of a dip in the middle of June, Bradley has really looked the part, and he’ll get a chance to keep it going against the lowly Angels on Sunday.

Matthews was lifted during a rocky fifth inning where he allowed a two-run homer to Max Schuemann before issuing back-to-back walks with two outs in the frame. He was charged with four runs over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and also issued four walks. The 26-year-old is questionable heading into his next start against the Angels on Friday. There should be some clarity on his status at some point later this weekend.

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.