On the eve of the American League Division Series, the Minnesota Twins have made a surprising decision to start Bailey Ober on the mound over Joe Ryan in Game 1.
Per Bobby Nightengale:
Bailey Ober said he found out he was the Game 1 starter about 20-30 minutes ago.
That's a surprising decision by manager Rocco Baldelli given that Ober was sent to the minor leagues this season for a five-game stretch.
He did make 26 starts at the major league level this year, going 8-6 with a 3.43 ERA. He struck out 146 batters in 144.1 innings and will be tasked with handling the Houston Astros, one of the best lineups in baseball.
Lifetime, Ober is 13-12 with a 3.63 ERA. He's thrown 292.2 innings at the big league level.
Ryan, who was passed over, has better "stuff" than Ober but had mixed results this season. The 27-year-old started 29 games, going 11-10 with a 4.51 ERA. He struck out 197 batters in 161.2 innings. He's won double-digit games in each of the last two seasons.
There's a chance that Ryan could start Game 2 of the series on Sunday, but the team could perhaps go back to Pablo Lopez, who last started on Tuesday in the opener of the Wild Card Round.
Game 1 of the series will be played on Saturday at 4:45 p.m. ET. Ober will be opposed by Justin Verlander, who returned to the Astros in a trade deadline deal from the New York Mets.
He helped the Astros win the World Series a year ago.
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