Bailey Ober strikes out four in no-decision Monday

Ober allowed three homers in the game, and two of them came in the first two innings, both two-run shots. It’s pretty hard to overcome that, and while he gave up just one more run — another homer — the damage was done. Ober just hasn’t shown any consistency in 2026, and now has a 4.64 ERA on the season. He’s set to face Atlanta on Monday.

Interestingly, Ober did not walk a batter or record a strikeout in the ballgame. He allowed a pair of runs in the third inning on a two-run single off the bat of Jac Caglianone, then gave up an RBI single to Salvador Perez in the sixth. Ober got six swings and misses on 74 pitches on the night, compiling a CSW of 24 percent. He’ll try to get back in the win column as he brings a 4.45 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and a 63/24 K/BB ratio (93 innings) into Tuesday’s battle against the Orioles.

Ober was able to generate nine whiffs on 28 swings against his non-fastballs and hold the Royals to six hard-hit balls. The bad news is that one of those hard-hit balls, from Jac Caglianone, still hasn’t landed yet. This is about the best you could have hoped for from Ober, who lines up for a rematch against the Royals next Wednesday assuming nothing that happens at the trade deadline scuttles that.

By the end of the second inning, Ober had already faced 12 batters, thrown 53 pitches and allowed three runs. He let up one more in the fourth to close out this ineffective start. For a pitcher who doesn’t have much velocity to begin with, it was down even further in this one. His fastball averaged 87 mph – yes, averaged – and he didn’t crack 89 mph one time. It’s practically impossible to be effective in this day and age with that low of velocity and Ober showed why here. He left this start with an ugly 4.56 ERA, 60 strikeouts, and 22 walks through 80 innings on the season and is scheduled for a two-start week against the Royals and home and Mariners on the road next week.

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.

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.

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.

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.