St. Paul – Randy Dobnak had a surprise, but a welcome one, to finish out his spring training. The Minnesota Twins informed him he would be the final man in the bullpen, making it the first time in four years since he was on an Opening Day roster in 2021.
“It was a pleasant surprise,” Dobnak said. “I had an idea that it was maybe a thing because before my last outing, they kind of cut me short. … So, I just threw two innings, and two days later, I found out I made the team. It was a complete blindside, but it was a nice little surprise.”
The short notice gave Dobnak’s family limited time to put together travel plans to see him in St. Louis. Fortunately, his wife, Aerial, and their daughter, River, were able to make their way to St. Louis to see Dobnak pitch that Sunday along with Aerial’s parents. Dobnak’s parents couldn’t break away from their jobs to see him, but they were optimistic they would see him in the next series in Chicago.
Only, they had to change their plans.
“They were going to come to Chicago,” said Dobnak, “but I wasn’t there.”
Dobnak was at the bottom of Minnesota’s bullpen pecking order when they added him to the Opening Day roster. The demotion didn’t come as any surprise to him.
He knew his role would be as the long reliever if any starter exited early, and that’s exactly what happened on Sunday, March 30, when the St. Louis Cardinals tagged Bailey Ober for eight runs in 2 ⅔ innings. Dobnak pitched the remaining 5 ⅓ innings for the Twins on the field, allowing only two walks and two hits, including a solo homer to Nolan Gorman.
“I was a little wild out there, but I was wildly effective, which was nice,” Dobnak said. “I was just trying to go out there and be as efficient as I could. Got some double plays that helped a little bit, but overall I thought it went really well, but obviously have some final things to improve on.”
Shortly after the Twins finished their 9-2 loss to the Cardinals, Dobnak found out the Twins were going to be DFA’d to clear room for a fresh arm to join the bullpen, which ended up being RHP Darren McCaughan. Dobnak sat in DFA limbo for a few days. However, he’s in the final year of his 5-year, $9.25 million deal with team options for 2026 through 2028. He knew he’d find his way back to St. Paul before the week was over.
“I kind of knew that was going to happen, but I have options left, so I was kind of surprised that I was DFA’d,” he said. “But either way, in my case, it’s pretty much the same thing because, at this point, no one is really going to take a chance picking up a contract for this year and then the buyout for next year.”
If Dobnak isn’t in the majors, the next best place for him to be is with the St. Paul Saints. He’s the only player to have played for them in all five seasons since becoming a Triple-A affiliate, and Saints games have become customary for him and his family’s summers.
“There’s really not many better places to throw than St. Paul,” he said. “The summers here are awesome, the fans are awesome, just the whole clubhouse, staff, just the way they do things here is pretty unique, so it’s really fun to pitch here. Fans love it, it’s really kid-friendly, so my wife enjoys coming here with our little toddler.”
The players and coaches in St. Paul are also happy to have Dobnak back in the clubhouse. He’s been a consistent source of humor for his teammates and has become the veteran mentor in a young, talented rotation.
“We’ve got a lot of young starters on this staff, so Randy’s really good to everybody,” said Saints starter Zebby Matthews. “He’s an awesome guy, anytime you have any questions, or you need to pick his brain, he’s experienced a lot throughout the game, and just to be able to pick his brain is awesome.”
“Dobnak’s great,” echoed Saints manager Toby Gardenhire. “He threw the ball really well last time around. His stuff has been falling into place. He’s been doing a good job.”
The veteran mentor role still comes as a bit of a shock to Dobnak. It wasn’t too long ago in 2019 when he was shooting his way up the Twins’ farm system and making his MLB debut just like Matthews did last season. Now at 30, he’s trying to provide the best mentorship for the Saints’ young starters who have yet to make their MLB debuts.
“It’s kind of crazy to think I’m the old guy now, because all those guys, most of them are 22, 23, 24, and I’m like, ‘Damn, I’m 30. I’m old,” said Dobnak. “But for me, if they have questions, they can come ask me questions, whether it’s routine-based, or what it’s like pitching in the big leagues.”
With Dobnak in the final year of his contract, he’s not worrying too much about what could come after the season in free agency. Nor is he too concerned about the outside chance of the Twins adding him to the 40-man roster again, then DFAing him and another team picking him up.
“Obviously, the other day, if a team wants to take a chance on me and pick me up, I’m all for it,” he said. “It would definitely be a culture shock because this is, I think, my ninth season with the Twins organization. It’s the only organization I’ve ever been with. But they say sometimes a change of scenery helps guys a lot. So whenever the time comes, whether it’s this year or next year, or beyond, I’m ready for whatever.”
Until then, he will keep working to get into form and be the anchor for the Saints rotation. Even though he allowed four walks in his first start with St. Paul on Sunday, he still threw five scoreless frames, combining to allow only one run in 10 ⅓ innings this season. The weather didn’t help his command, but with his next start this weekend at CHS Field and temps expected to be in the low to mid-60s, there’s a better chance his command will work in his favor.
“That was just another wildly effective day,” he said. “I think I gave up just the one hit, walked four, had three punchouts, but obviously, I’d rather have no walks and punch out more. It’s early. It’s April, so we’ll figure it out.”
