Minnesota Twins’ closer look at Bailey Ober’s trouble reveals ‘some things,’ but the team reveals nothing

DETROIT - A day later, the autopsy on Bailey Ober’s disastrous start against the Tigers was complete. Its conclusions, however, will remain private.

“We’ve found some things,” Twins pitching coach Pete Maki said, but he declined to specify what they might be. “Other teams read the media, and if we’re going to make a change to usages or locations, that’s not something I’m going to share.”

They seem to have ruled out the possibility that the tall righthander gives away what pitch is coming through his movements on the mound, however.

“We have a team that works on [tipping] all the time,” Maki said. “They haven’t found anything.”

But Maki said he and his staff of analysts welcome the chance to identify and correct whatever has turned Ober, one of the most reliable and consistent starting pitchers the Twins have had in recent years, into a liability this month. The Twins had won seven consecutive Ober starts by mid-May but now have lost seven in a row. His ERA in those seven starts is 7.30.

“Yeah, it’s been tough. But if you look around the league, there are other really good guys who go through [terrible] periods,” Maki said. “[Walker] Buehler and Charlie Morton, those are good major league pitchers, have been for a long time,” and both have ERAs above 5.60 this year.

Ober is healthy, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said, but may be showing signs of midseason fatigue. The team will keep a close eye on his condition, and Baldelli said he’s glad Monday’s off day will push Ober’s next scheduled start to Friday at Target Field.

As for his mental condition, Maki said the Twins are not concerned about Ober, whose body language during his 5 ⅔-inning start and after the game in the team’s clubhouse seemed full of misery.

“He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve met in this game, so even when things aren’t going good,” Maki said, he remains confident the righthander will bounce back. “I know he was a little bit down yesterday, but he’s mentally tough.”

The Twins appeared on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” for the first time since Sept. 20, 2020, and it added a few extra responsibilities to Baldelli’s day.

Not that he minded much — one of them was a long pregame chat with broadcaster Eduardo Pérez, a teammate of Baldelli’s on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2004 and 2005.

In addition, Baldelli submitted to a between-innings interview with field reporter Buster Olney, and Carlos Correa wore a microphone and earpiece during one inning in order to be interviewed while playing shortstop.

“I just do what they tell me to,” Baldelli said of his TV obligation, which took place after the top of the fourth inning, when the Twins were still without a hit against Tigers lefthander Tarik Skubal. “One of those people is going to get 10 grand, and one of those people is not,” Baldelli added, referring to the $10,000 stipend the network pays players who agree to be miked up.

One thing Baldelli did not change when ESPN changed Sunday’s series finale from a day game to night: the Twins’ travel itinerary. Rather than simply stay an extra night in Detroit, the Twins planned to board buses after the game to the airport for a waiting charter flight to Miami.

The Twins open a three-game series with the Marlins on Tuesday, but using Monday to travel would mean, Baldelli said, “that it’s not even an off day anymore. By the time you wake up, get to the airport, fly out, now you’re halfway through the day. You’ve got time to go grab dinner and go to the hotel and go to bed. And that’s your off day.”

He far prefers getting to the road city as quickly as possible, even if it means an arrival in Miami scheduled for 2:30 a.m., if everything goes smoothly. The players, after all, can sleep on the plane and spend Monday however they choose.

“We’ve played 13 games in a row,” Baldelli said. “… The guys deserve an actual day off.”