Whoa, whoa, whoa. Two starting pitchers with sub-3.50 ERAs facing each other in a June MLB game that weren't drafted in the first round?! Or second round?! Or third, fourth, or fifth rounds?! This is crazy!

Bailey Ober, the 2017 12th round pick out of College of Chaleston, will face Tarik Skubal, the 2018 9th round pick out of Seattle University, tonight in Detroit, MI. Bailey and Tarik took different routes to the majors after being drafted, but both were guys that returned to school after being drafted in a round in the 20s (Bailey 23, Tarik 29). After their return to school both saw a jump in their draft stock and were drafted significantly higher before starting their pro careers. 

Tarik took the "top prospect" route. He dominated the low minors in 2019 and saw himself fly up prospect rankings. He made his debut in 2020, and pitched 32 not very good innings in 7 starts. He graduated from rookie/prospect status in 2021 (finishing as high as the #4 system prospect, and 22 global prospect according to Fangraphs) when he made 29 starts and threw 149.1 much better innings of 4.34 ERA ball. He's propelled himself to the front of the Tiger rotation in 2022 as he carries a 2.44 ERA through 9 starts while striking out more than 1 an inning.

Bailey went with the "unheralded prospect" journey for his minor league career. Bailey topped out as the 23rd best Twins prospect in 2021 (again, according to Fangraphs' rankings). Ober also graduated from rookie/prospect status in 2021 while throwing 92.1 somewhat surprising innings over 20 starts with a 4.19 ERA while striking out more than 1 an inning. Bailey made a jump forward this season in performance, but the injury bug has bit him a little as well. Injuries have been a bit of the story of his career so far, but if he can maintain his current 3.25 ERA for 20 or so more starts this season I think we'd all be very happy.

They weren't top prospects and their journeys post-draft weren't quite the same, but I think both the Tigers and Twins are quite happy with the players Tarik and Bailey have worked so hard to become.

Today's game feels like a big one for the Twins as they are nearing the end of their division game run before heading out east to take on the unbeatable monsters that roam the AL East. The following lineups are not full of overly inspiring names so there's a chance we see these 2 young arms put up some Ks today. Although, my hope is Tarik hits a bit of a stumbling block and doesn't make it out of the 4th.

Pitchers:
MIN: Bailey Ober, 1-1, 3.25 ERA
DET: Tarik Skubal, 3-2, 2.44 ERA

Hitters:
MIN:
LF- Kyle Garlick
DH- Gary Sanchez
2B- Jorge Polanco
3B- Gio Urshela
RF- Trevor Larnach
1B- Jose Miranda
C- Ryan Jeffers
SS- Jermaine Palacios
CF- Nick Gordon

DET:
RF- Willi Castro
SS- Harold Castro
2B- Jonathan Schoop
DH- Miguel Cabrera
1B- Spencer Torkelson
LF- Kody Clemens
3B- Jeimer Candelario
C- Tucker Barnhart
CF- Dereck Hill

Go Twins!

Glad they kept Buxton out of the lineup. He cant hit a baseball to save his life. Glad the Twins didn't over pay him.

It ain't Ober til it's ober. Let's hope the boys feel like playing tonight...they sure didn't look like it in game two yesterday. 

The lineup just keeps getting weaker looking and weaker looking.

 

Garlick Sanchez Polanco Urshella 1 2 3 4

 Heh.

1 minute ago, USAFChief said:

The lineup just keeps getting weaker looking and weaker looking.

 

Garlick Sanchez Polanco Urshella 1 2 3 4

 Heh.

But lefty on the mound!

 

 

That doesn't change anything.  I agree with you...

13 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

The lineup just keeps getting weaker looking and weaker looking.

 

Garlick Sanchez Polanco Urshella 1 2 3 4

 Heh.

Any lineup without Buck, Correa, Arraez and Max is going to look weak.  I have a feeling both Arraez and Kepler are getting AB's in this game though.  Weird construction with Gary hitting 2nd and Gio 4th though.  

30 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

The lineup just keeps getting weaker looking and weaker looking.

 

Garlick Sanchez Polanco Urshella 1 2 3 4

 Heh.

No joke, no Arraez or Buxton. This may be painful to watch. 

18 minutes ago, SwainZag said:

Any lineup without Buck, Correa, Arraez and Max is going to look weak.  I have a feeling both Arraez and Kepler are getting AB's in this game though.  Weird construction with Gary hitting 2nd and Gio 4th though.  

Almost makes me think Rocco does the line up by throwing all the names into a hat and then pulling out nine of them. Whatever order he fishes out, is the way they bat. 

Just now, CRF said:

Almost makes me think Rocco does the line up by throwing all the names into a hat and then pulling out nine of them. Whatever order he fishes out, is the way they bat. 

Well, they get practice at this in St. Paul, who fielded 4 catchers in last night's lineup (but only one behind the plate).

41 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

The lineup just keeps getting weaker looking and weaker looking.

 

Garlick Sanchez Polanco Urshella 1 2 3 4

 Heh.

Lulling them into a false sense of security.

What a...strange...linup. Garlick leadoff? Well, we will see.

Good bench for the game, That is always important. Havcing the right guys watching the game with the manager: Kepler, Arraez and Buxton. Might learn soemthing watching from the dugout rather than being on the field.

Jose Miranda has 3 errors. 2 at 1B and 1 at 3B. For some reason I thought it was more than that. His errors seem to stand out I guess. He’s also started one game at DH in which he had no errors. But one game is a small sample size.

1 hour ago, PDX Twin said:

Well, they get practice at this in St. Paul, who fielded 4 catchers in last night's lineup (but only one behind the plate).

They have 4 catchers on the roster? Unreal! You’d almost have to see 2 of them every game

1 hour ago, rwilfong86 said:

No joke, no Arraez or Buxton. This may be painful to watch. 

More painfull then game 2 yesterday?

2 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

More painfull then game 2 yesterday?

Them getting shut down yesterday surprised me, if this lineup gets shut down I'll be less surprised. 

Working hard on winning the LOB column tonight.

7 minutes ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

They have 4 catchers on the roster? Unreal! You’d almost have to see 2 of them every game

Sounds like Wichita does too.

Solid start for Ober.

3 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

Sounds like Wichita does too.

Can any of them hit?

Just now, Parfigliano said:

Can any of them hit?

Major league pitching?  Probably not.

Thanks for the free out, Day-Twah.

Absolutely pathetic 0-2 pitch to Schoop. That's awful.

Hopefully the Twins get at least one run tonight so the game isn't over already?

6 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

Solid start for Ober.

Need a double play ball before this inning gets out of hand. 

Ober getting knocked around already.

Oberiffic. Trying to find success right down the middle of the plate. 

Seems to work against the Twins, though.

The only out he’s gotten was given to him. 

Boy was that needed

2 minutes ago, rwilfong86 said:

Need a double play ball before this inning gets out of hand. 

Woo hoo, I called that!!?

What i miss?