As the Twins get ready to start the Grapefruit League schedule on Saturday, WCCO's Jason DeRusha catches up with Ober, who's coming off his fourth big league season in the Twins rotation. He talks about prepping for spring games plus his proficiency in the kitchen.
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00:00Bailey, you got the ball in the hand already, right?
00:02You're ready to go?
00:03Oh yeah, feeling good.
00:04I've been down here for a little while now,
00:06so it feels good to have the entire squad here today
00:09and get everything rolling.
00:11When you're here before the officials start,
00:13what are you doing?
00:15It's kind of the same schedule, to be honest with you.
00:16Like all the pitchers are primarily down here
00:18a little bit early,
00:19just that we can get acclimated to the weather
00:21and being outside every day.
00:24But yeah, just going through our routine
00:25and kind of staying on the same schedule.
00:27The only thing that's a little bit different
00:30is that we'll be batting in team defense
00:32and kind of those types of things in all the meetings.
00:35You're on the schedule today to throw.
00:38Is that different when you get the first time out there,
00:40there's some people in the stands,
00:42or is it just still the same for you?
00:44It's kind of the same,
00:45just because I've been here, done it a little bit now,
00:48and just kind of going out there and getting my work in
00:50and trying to get better
00:52and try to work on some stuff while I'm out there.
00:56Staying healthy is key, right?
00:58How is the off season?
00:59What kind of things have you been doing
01:01to make sure you're ready to go?
01:03Yeah, I've been feeling good.
01:05Just kind of mixing in different types of aerobic exercises,
01:10trying to build capacity up that way.
01:14And also in the weight room,
01:15just doing a little bit of different exercises
01:16to try to build capacity
01:18so you can last the whole season, 162 games,
01:22and be able to pitch and be fresh in October.
01:25Is the off season, I mean,
01:27do you get to have some fun and eat like a normal human,
01:30or are you still on athlete eating plan year-round?
01:34You get a little bit of a break,
01:35so I feel like, I like to cook,
01:39so when I'm home, I get to make
01:40kind of whatever I'm feeling like.
01:42Most of the time, it's good food,
01:44so I'm not making too much of unhealthy stuff.
01:47What's your favorite thing to cook?
01:49Oh, that's a tough question.
01:51I don't know, I made a really good salmon dish last night.
01:56It's like a garlic butter cream sauce with spinach
01:59over some salmon, it was really good.
02:02Some penne alla vodka, really good.
02:05Do you cook for family, or who do you cook for?
02:06Yeah, so.
02:07Are they down here?
02:08Not yet, but I cook for Randy and his wife last night,
02:12but my family will be here in a couple days.
02:14That's cool to have them down here, right?
02:16Yeah.
02:17Because during the season,
02:18you don't get to see them as much.
02:19Yeah, exactly.
02:20They'll be up with me during the season,
02:21but like you said, we're traveling a lot,
02:23and half the time, half the time of the day,
02:26I'm at the field, so.
02:27Tell everybody about your family.
02:28You have how many kids?
02:29I have four kids, yep.
02:30How old?
02:31Five-year-old, four-year-old, and twins that are two.
02:33So this is like vacation for you?
02:35A little bit, yeah.
02:36Just getting in work vacation, yeah.
02:38Do you miss them, though?
02:39Oh yeah, I do, yeah.
02:40Do you like FaceTime, or how do you stay in touch?
02:42Yeah, we FaceTime a few times a day,
02:43and text, and I'll call them, talk on the phone,
02:46and they're ready to get down here.
02:48If you weren't playing baseball, what would you do?
02:51That's a good question.
02:53Probably something on the business side of the world.
02:56Maybe try to work my way up in front office in any sport,
03:01or maybe try to run my own type of business.
03:03What's your sport, your other sport,
03:07to watch or to geek out about?
03:09Probably football and golf.
03:11Yeah.
03:12There's a lot of cooks on this pitching staff.
03:14It's kind of interesting.
03:15I know, I think I'm the best, though.
03:18I mean, I wasn't going to say anything,
03:20but Simeon Woods Richardson thinks he's a pretty good cook.
03:23Yeah, I don't know, I haven't had anything from his,
03:25so maybe we'll have to try some of them.
03:27We need like a twins cook-off here.
03:29I know, I know.
03:30Very good.
03:31All right, Bailey, good luck, thank you.
03:32Thank you, appreciate it.