AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS VS ASTROS

October 6, 2023

Bailey Ober

Minute Maid Park

Minnesota Twins

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Welcome to Houston. You guys go up against a team that has been more than beyond dominant in this area, in this league in the past years. How do you approach this matchup, and how do you prepare to go up against this team at their place? It's going to be packed tomorrow.

BAILEY OBER: Yeah, just extremely thankful to be in this situation. It's something that you dream about really as kids. You want to be up in these moments, get to play on the road, a packed house. We know it's going to be loud, it's going to be hostile. Just kind of treat the preparation as like a normal start. We know this team has got a really good lineup.

I'm just going to go out there and do everything I can and keep everything simple and try to execute the best I can.

Q. When did you find out you were getting this start, and what emotions ran through you at the moment?

BAILEY OBER: I found out probably about 20, 30 minutes ago. It was an extremely fun conversation to have with Rocco. I was kind of prepping just in case this would be the situation. So I had all the stuff this past week. I was prepping just in case I was going to be the guy.

Yeah, it's a great conversation to have. I'll be ready to go.

Q. Bailey you started the year in the Minors. You got sent to the Minors at the start of September for a little break. What does this mean to you in the context of all that?

BAILEY OBER: Like I said earlier, it's a blessing to be here. It's been a long road this season. Just like every year, it's a long journey. But I put a lot of work in this year and had a pretty successful year so far. We're trying to carry that into the postseason.

Just going to lean on my routine and carry that into tomorrow and be ready to go and face these guys.

Q. That second reset in September, how much did that take you back, if at all, and what did it do for you coming out of that to come back and join the team after that?

BAILEY OBER: It was a little disappointing at first. It was a little surprising that I was going down. I try to look at it as what can I take from it and how can I be positive about what's going on instead of being a little negative about it.

I really used it as more of a mental break. I know I hadn't been pitching the best at the time up in the Big Leagues, so I tried to use that as a mental reset.

Just able to go down with the guys in Triple-A, they were able to take my mind off of performing and have all the success up here. Just get back to the grittiness of baseball and have fun playing out there, playing relaxed and loose. I feel that was able to get my mentality to kind of switch around and help me prepare for September and then October baseball.

Q. As a pitcher, you're trying to win every pitch. Pitch by pitch, batter by batter. When you look at that Astros lineup, what's the overall feeling you get when you see that? Is it tougher to stay in the moment of every pitch when you've got, oh, my gosh, this guy does this. How do you handle that?

BAILEY OBER: Definitely, that's a good question. I faced the Astros twice in '21 when Carlos was here with them, and that lineup was unbelievable as well.

So I feel like it forces you to focus throughout the entire, entire lineup, the entire time you're in there. There's really no breaks in the lineup. Some pitchers can use that to their advantage. It helps them stay locked in a little more. I'm hoping to do that and just lean on past experience pitching here.

I know the crowd's going to be a little different, but just lean on past experience and stick to myself and be simple out there and just focus on me and the catcher.

Q. What were the results of the two games in '21?

BAILEY OBER: They were okay. I threw one game at Target Field and one game here, so I have experience throwing here. I enjoyed throwing here last time. It was an up and down game from what I can remember, but I enjoyed being on the field and throwing on a great mound. Hopefully tomorrow I get the same comfort.

Q. Was the conversation with Rocco here or on the bus? What did he say to you? What did he tell you made the decision?

BAILEY OBER: It was here right when I got here. I got changed, and they pulled me into his room. Basically, he was asking me how I was feeling, how preparation was this past week and asked if I was ready to go.

Then he basically said, yeah, you got tomorrow. So be ready and go get 'em. It was a pretty short conversation. That's about it. I was excited.

Now I'm looking forward to it and trying to get locked in.

Q. Were you wearing the dad hat at the time?

BAILEY OBER: I was not. I changed already.

Q. Did you feel like there was anything to be gained from watching Sonny, watching Pablo the last two playoff games already?

BAILEY OBER: Yeah, definitely. I feel like it's more of a composure type thing, just with the elevated crowd levels, the noise, being able to stay locked in and not let the outside forces get to you too much. Just really try to tune everything out and go out there and play baseball, try to keep it as simple as possible.

Q. Yesterday you said they kind of hinted to you the start might be coming. How much did that help you just prepare so this isn't something you really just learned 30 minutes ago and keep you locked in during the week?

BAILEY OBER: Yeah, exactly. Even after my last start in Colorado, I kind of knew that I wasn't going to be on the first roster because I had just thrown. But they kept me on the same routine. They kept me on the same bullpen schedule, and that kind of relayed to me just like, hey, you probably will get a start. We don't know when it's going to be.

So I was just ready for it, if it was going to be today or Game 4. But today, like you said, get into normal scouting, normal routine, normal bullpen. Everything just kind of lined up for today.

Q. Take me back a little bit to growing up in North Carolina. Obviously a postseason start, you're going to get this great opportunity. It seems like you're excited about it. But can you kind of take me back and give me a sense of when you're a kid, when you're a teenager, when you're in high school, did you visualize stuff like this? Did you think that would be cool to be there? That would be cool to be me in that position? Can you take me back and give me some context from your childhood growing up?

BAILEY OBER: Definitely. I've loved baseball since I was 4 years old. This is all I ever wanted to do. I think I wrote a letter to my first grade teacher saying I want to be a professional baseball player. At the time, I was a Red Sox fan. My parents grew up in the northeast, so I got to watch all their success growing up, and I got to see people in my family cry for the first time when they won the World Series in '04. They waited a long time for that.

So I know what baseball means to a lot of people, and I know this fan base has been starving for success. Just watching all those games in the playoffs growing up when I was a kid, when it was on TV, staying up until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning watching them play, that's all I ever really wanted to do. I wanted to be in these situations.

I want the pressure. I want to go out there and just have fun and enjoy the moment.

Q. I think, if I remember right, you were coming out of a hunting trip in the woods when you first learned about the 40-man spot, when you first got put there. From that point to today, how much have you learned about yourself, and how much have you grown to kind of prepare you for this moment through your experience in the Big Leagues?

BAILEY OBER: Definitely. Like you said, I wasn't expecting to get those phone calls when I was in the woods hunting with my family. It's been a wild ride. I've been trying to enjoy it and enjoy being with my family every step of the way.

It means a lot to me and to them to be able to be in these situations. Yeah, it's definitely a growing process every step of the way. Ever since I got added onto the 40-man, I feel like I've been trying to add to my arsenal, trying to get better every single day. That doesn't stop in season, whether it's preparation-wise, trying to learn from teammates, watch opposing pitchers, see what they do, see what works for them.

So I feel like throughout this entire process the last two years, the last two years we weren't as fortunate to be able to make the postseason and now we are here now, just trying to take all those moments, memories, the good and the bad the last two years and try to channel it into tomorrow.

Q. Does it matter that it's Justin Verlander you're facing, or does that just make the story better someday?

BAILEY OBER: I think so. It's just another Hall of Famer that I get to go pitch against on the same day. It's unbelievable. Got to throw against Kershaw in L.A. earlier this year. So it's quite -- it's just a surreal moment to be able to throw against Verlander in the postseason. Looking forward to it and looking forward to telling my kids about it one day.