FORT MYERS, Fla. — It has been a spring of searching for Twins starter Bailey Ober.
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober throws during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday against the Detroit Tigers, June 28, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
After a winter spent working out his mechanics and getting his hip, which affected him throughout the 2025 season, feeling better, Ober reported to camp in a good spot, positive about the progress he had made.
His velocity was up at the very beginning of camp, but then has dipped as spring training has worn on. In his penultimate start of the spring, he did not throw a pitch above 90 miles per hour.
But Monday, though he spent the whole day working around trouble, allowing 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings, his velocity was up a tick (1.4 mph on his four-seam fastball from his last start).
Ober seemed noticeably encouraged by the outing.
It comes on the heels of a week in which Ober said he made some changes to move down the mound quicker and use his 6-foot-9 frame to create some momentum.
“I felt like I was able to hold mechanical stuff throughout the whole game today instead of a little bit of a dump off in later innings,” Ober said. “Just getting used to … feeling those movements down the mound right now. So not necessarily happy with where command was today but delivery-aspect felt really good, and I think it’s a good stepping stone going forward into the season.”
Ober is slated to start the third game of the season on Sunday in Baltimore. A return to form for the starter will be imperative for a Twins team that is already operating without Pablo López.
“It’s not exactly where I want it to be obviously, but I think it’s going in the right direction as of right now. I’m looking forward to getting into the season,” Ober said. “There’s no excuses now that we’re going into real baseball games. It’s just go out, execute and get outs. I’m looking forward to doing that.”
Festa to stay back
As everyone arounds him pack up their boxes around him to head north — either to start their seasons in Minneapolis or St. Paul — starting pitcher David Festa has something else on his mind: arranging accommodations for another month in Fort Myers.
Festa, who is dealing with a shoulder impingement, will remain back and continue to rehab at the Twins’ Florida complex. The right-hander has started playing catch but is still two to three weeks away from getting off a mound.
From there, he expects to build up to five innings. Put simply, “it’ll take a little bit,” Festa said.
Festa dealt with thoracic outlet syndrome last season, making his final start of the season in July. This injury, he could tell, was different. Whereas that presented as achiness mostly in the front of the shoulder, this issue is now in the back of the joint.
“During the offseason, I had some good days and some bad days,” Festa said. “I didn’t really think much of it, and as I got here, I threw a few good bullpens. I wasn’t recovering great and ultimately started to feel a little bit of this in the back. It was like on and off, good days and bad. When you start to have more bads than goods, you know something’s up.”
Briefly
Trevor Larnach hit his second home run of the spring on Monday in the Twins’ 9-6 win over the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park. … The Twins will finish up their spring training slate on Tuesday with Mick Abel on the mound against the Red Sox. From there, they will depart Fort Myers for Baltimore, where they will begin their season on Thursday.