Three numbers from Bailey Ober’s ‘Maddux’

In the moments after he recorded the final out of the first complete-game shutout of his career on Tuesday night, Bailey Ober was feeling a variety of emotions and sensations.

“You kind of lose a little feelings in your limbs and kind of tingling a little bit,” Ober said. “It was super exciting.”

That soon made way for a nice chill. As he conducted a post-game interview on the field, teammates Brooks Lee and Joe Ryan crept up behind him to douse him in ice water.

Ober’s masterful performance — he gave up just two hits and walked none in a 3-0 win over the Miami Marlins — was a sight to behold, after which manager Derek Shelton said he was “really proud,” to have watched it.

Here’s three numbers that stand out from the performance.

88.6

Ober’s four-seam fastball averaged 88.6 miles per hour on the night and the starter threw just three pitches that topped 90 mph.

His velocity isn’t what it once was, but Ober continues to defy odds as he pitches effectively at lower speeds. That wasn’t quite the case last year as Ober’s velocity dipped and he tried to pitch through hip issues for much of the season.

While he said he’s still working to get his velo closer to what it once was, he’s also been able to find success (he has a 3.46 ERA across nine starts) this season with the stuff he has.

“I feel like I’ve been throwing the ball really well and I’ve been able to locate and execute pitches a lot better this year compared to last year with the velo I have right now so I’m a lot more confident regarding that,” Ober said.

16

Ober’s complete-game shutout was just the 16th “Maddux,” in club history, the last of which came from Ervin Santana in June 2017.

A Maddux, named after Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, who threw 13 of them, occurs when a pitcher needs fewer than 100 pitches to finish a complete-game shutout.

It took Ober just 89 pitches to do so on Tuesday, and both that game as well as his complete game against the then-Oakland Athletics in 2024 came in at 89 pitches. Ober did allow two runs in that game, so it did not qualify as a ‘Maddux.’

“We were talking if under 100 is a ‘Maddux,’ we’re going to have to name under 90 an ‘Ober,’” catcher said.