Twins place Bailey Ober on 15-day injured list because of left hip impingement

MIAMI - On second thought, maybe the nagging pain in Bailey Ober’s left hip really was a problem.

Ober first mentioned the hip nearly a month ago, after allowing seven runs to the Rangers on June 12, but downplayed his condition as discomfort that he can pitch through. After allowing 18 runs in 18 innings over three starts since then, however, the Twins have decided that perhaps he can’t.

“Bailey expressed to us that it’s affecting the way he’s pitching,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said shortly after the Twins placed the righthander on the 15-day injured list with a hip impingement and had him fly back to Minnesota for further treatment. “A lot of guys pitch with [discomfort], but it’s not necessarily something that holds them back on the mound. But in his mind, this is now something that’s holding him back.”

Even if the pain isn’t at the root of Ober’s sudden, uncharacteristic stretch of ineffectiveness — he tied a Twins record by allowing 14 home runs in June — a break right now figures to be helpful, the manager said.

“It can absolutely help him mentally, to get a reset from how he’s been pitching,” Baldelli said. “But that part of it can only occur if we get him in the right spot physically, too.”

The Twins called up lefthanded reliever Kody Funderburk from Class AAA St. Paul to replace Ober for the moment, but they have not yet decided how they’ll fill his spot in the starting rotation. Last Monday’s off day will allow Chris Paddack to start Friday’s game against the Rays at Target Field on normal rest, but Baldelli said the team is still discussing who will start over the weekend.

With guards posted, buses pulled up to the garage Wednesday morning at the Twins’ hotel on Miami Beach, and players quietly climbed aboard. A police escort led the buses out of the garage and down the street, as the team headed to practice.

No, not the Twins. A more internationally famous group of athletes.

Chelsea Football Club, a West London soccer team that is one of the most famous and popular clubs in the English Premier League, is using the same hotel as a headquarters while the team competes in the monthlong FIFA Club World Cup, a 32-team international tournament being staged for the first time in the United States.

“We’ve seen their staff all over the place, and a lot of players, too,” said Baldelli, a big fan of international soccer — though especially of Liverpool, one of Chelsea’s EPL rivals. “I recognize some of these guys, absolutely. João Pedro was next to us in the coffee line today,” he added, speaking of Chelsea’s newly signed striker.

Some Twins players have chatted with the soccer players in the hotel’s weight room, Baldelli said, and the team’s chefs rode an elevator with some staff members.

Chelsea has played round-robin games in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Orlando, each time returning immediately afterward to the base hotel in Miami Beach. Last weekend, Chelsea advanced to the quarterfinals with a victory over Benfica, a Portuguese team, in Charlotte; they’ll take on the Brazilian team Palmeiras on Saturday in Philadelphia.

“It’s pretty cool to see a big-league team like that up close,” Baldelli said.

Security is also much tighter than the Twins are used to, several players said, with identification required to enter the hotel and noticeably more guards patrolling the grounds.

Infielder Jonah Bride, designated for assignment Sunday to make room for Royce Lewis’ return to the active roster, cleared waivers Wednesday and was assigned outright to St. Paul.

“I’m glad. It gives us someone we can trust and turn to” if necessary, Baldelli said of Bride, who went 15-for-72 (.209) in 10 weeks with the Twins. “He’s a versatile guy. He handled the role of a bench player like a veteran. I prefer to keep Jonah in the organization.”

The Saints lost 2-1 to the Gwinnett Stripers on Wednesday in Laurenceville, Ga., when Conner Capel hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning.