CLEARWATER, Fla. -- This time last season, Bailey Ober was far more results-based than he is now, considering he was hellbent on showing the Twins that he should stick around in a crowded starting rotation instead of being pushed out of the mix. This spring, he’s much more process-based, his spot in the big leagues secure.

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So, keep in mind that this wasn’t even the results-oriented version of Ober that’s getting the following praise from two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper on the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast on Saturday:

“I think, facing a guy like that, if he’s going to be 95 or 96 [mph], good luck to anybody in the Central, because that’s going to be a tough at-bat,” Harper said.

“Yeah, that would be nice,” Ober said after hearing Harper’s comments. “Speak it into existence, you know?”

Ober did acknowledge after his start that he fell 0.2 mph short of that 95 mark -- he topped out at 94.8 mph -- but that was still his hardest pitch ever tracked by Statcast, a standout highlight from an utterly dominant start in the Twins’ 3-2 loss to the Phillies on Saturday during which he struck out seven members of a nearly full-strength Philadelphia lineup across three innings while generating 11 whiffs on just 38 pitches.

“He pitched so good, he got to play more baseball today,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He was really only going to go 35-ish pitches, and probably only two full innings.”

“That's the best I've seen him,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said.

Laudatory comments from Harper being what they are, it’s also prudent to temper the expectations to a certain extent, considering Ober also touched 94.2 and 94.1 mph last spring before his fastball velocity dipped to a 91.3 mph average throughout the regular season, including a 91.1 mph average in March and April -- which, to be clear, was still plenty good enough for him to pitch to a 3.43 ERA in 144 1/3 MLB innings.

Ober knows that history, and this year, he’s focused on doing everything he can to actually sustain this velocity spike into the regular season this time.

He’s now seen what this sort of stuff can do to even a Philadelphia lineup featuring Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos and Bryson Stott at the top while he was still feeling out his stuff, including a new cutter. The reinforcement from Harper certainly doesn’t hurt.

“I think the Central should look out anyways,” Jeffers said. “There's no secret how good he is. But 95, from how special his fastball already is, if he's touching 4s and 5s, yeah, it's going to be a good year for him.”

Part of the process is that Ober switched to a high-protein diet this offseason -- 200 to 250 grams of protein every day, he says, helping add five pounds to his already massive frame -- while continuing to work on exercises for his explosiveness to help his 6-foot-9 body move more quickly.

“Do everything I can to make sure I'm staying strong, not really breaking down, per se, as the innings and the pitching build up,” Ober said. “Just going to do everything I can possible to keep my body healthy, feeling strong and timed up.”

Jeffers goes deep
Hard-throwing Phillies left-hander José Alvarado allowed only two homers off his sinker last season -- and Jeffers got halfway to that total with one swing in the third inning, when he crushed that sinker a Statcast-estimated 406 feet over the fence in straightaway center field.

It’s early in spring, but considering Jeffers isn’t completely overhauling his swing again the way he did last offseason, he’s already feeling comfortable in trying to build on a stellar offensive performance last season in which he led all MLB catchers (min. 300 plate appearances) with a 138 wRC+.

“I had to remind myself this offseason that, ‘Hey, the whole season last year, it was completely new. The muscle memory wasn't there, and I'm trying to build it, and I had a great year,’” Jeffers said.

Now, the focus is more on small refinements that help him get to his biomechanical markers for success more consistently -- and that’s what Spring Training is for.

“The more and more I can feel comfortable with it, the more and more swings and reps I have, the more and more things I can point to that are, ‘OK, when I do this, it gets me in a really good spot,’” Jeffers said.