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Randy Dobnak

AL Central Notes: Lynn, Candelario, Tigers, Twins, Ryan, Dobnak

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Lance Lynn is scheduled to make his third rehab start on Wednesday, White Sox manager Tony La Russa told reporters (including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times).  Beyond that, La Russa left open the possibility that Lynn could be activated from the 60-day injured list, assuming that the veteran right-hander is feeling good coming out of that next Triple-A outing.

Knee surgery sidelined Lynn in early April, so the hurler has yet to make his 2022 debut.  Getting Lynn back in action would be a huge help to a Chicago team that has been bitten hard by the injury bug, but the White Sox are still treading water despite a shorthanded roster.  The White Sox improved to 25-27 after today’s 6-5 win over the Rays.

More from around the AL Central…

  • Speaking of injury-riddled teams, the Tigers may have suffered another loss as Jeimer Candelario left today’s game in the second inning due to a left shoulder injury.  Candelario dove to try and snag a Josh Donaldson line drive, but was shaken up on the play, and had to be replaced mid-inning at third base by Harold Castro.  Since Detroit doesn’t have games on either Monday or Thursday, it’s possible the club could wait a few days to see if Candelario can avoid the IL, though the third baseman’s condition could be determined earlier based on tests.  Like many Tigers hitters, Candelario is suffering through a rough year at the plate, hitting only .181/.236/.319 over 195 plate appearances.
  • Some reinforcements could be on the way for the Tigers, as manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen) that Austin Meadows is tentatively ready to be activated from the 10-day IL on Tuesday.  Meadows has been battling vertigo symptoms and was placed on the IL in mid-May.  As for other injured Tigers, both Eduardo Rodriguez and Robbie Grossman could be close to starting rehab assignments.
  • Twins manager Rocco Baldelli provided Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter links) and other reporters with some updates on injured players, including the status of right-hander Joe Ryan.  After being placed on the COVID-related injured list on May 25, Ryan has tossed one bullpen session already and will throw another, more intense session today or Tuesday.  It isn’t yet known if Ryan will require a rehab start in the minors before returning to Minnesota’s rotation.
  • While Ryan may be close to a return, the news isn’t good for Randy Dobnak, as Baldelli said the right-hander recently suffered a setback with his injured right middle finger.  It has been almost a full year since Dobnak initially sprained his finger, and he has pitched in only one MLB game since (on September 3, 2021).

Twins Claim Jhon Romero, Place Randy Dobnak On 60-Day Injured List

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The Twins announced Monday that they’ve claimed righty Jhon Romero off waivers from the Nationals and, in a corresponding move, placed right-hander Randy Dobnak on the 60-day injured list. Dobnak is still dealing with the effects of a strain in the middle finger on his pitching hand that he suffered last summer.

Romero has five big league innings under his belt, all coming with Washington within the final couple weeks of last season. The 27-year-old showed a three-pitch mix, averaging 94.5 MPH on his four-seam with a slider and changeup that both checked in around 85 MPH. While his big league body of work was too limited on which to draw any meaningful conclusions, he did have an excellent season in the high minors.

The Colombia native split the year between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester, spending the bulk of the season at the lower level. He tossed 55 cumulative innings across 38 appearances, posting a 2.62 ERA with an excellent 30.5% strikeout percentage and a minuscule 4.9% walk rate. That earned him a late-season call with a Washington club that had a very thin relief corps by the end of the year. However, he didn’t stick on the Nats 40-man roster all winter, as they designated him for assignment last week upon finalizing their one-year deal with Nelson Cruz.

The Twins will take a low-risk dice roll on Romero on the heels of his strong minor league campaign. He still has all option years remaining, so Minnesota can stash him with Triple-A St. Paul for the foreseeable future so long as they keep him on their 40-man.

Dobnak posted quality numbers through his first two big league seasons, combining for a 3.12 ERA despite a subpar strikeout rate on account of excellent control and ground-ball numbers. Minnesota signed him to a five-year, $9.25MM extension last spring, but his 2021 season was a disaster. He was tagged for a 7.64 ERA in 50 2/3 innings. Dobnak spent most of the second half of the season on the injured list with the aforementioned finger strain, returning for one appearance in September before going back on the shelf.

The hope had been that Dobnak would bounce back this year, but the team shut him down over the weekend due to continued soreness in the area. There’s no clear timetable for his return, but he’ll miss at least the first two months of the season.

Injury Notes: Urias, Sims, Glasnow, Dobnak

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After suffering a left quad strain in yesterday’s Spring Training game, Luis Urias is facing at least a two-week layoff and is “questionable” for Opening Day, Brewers manager Craig Counsell told The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak and other reporters.  Even if Urias does miss only 14 days, that won’t leave much time for Urias to ramp up to play in the Brew Crew’s first game on April 7, and even the two-week timeline is just a projection since Counsell noted that Urias will still get more tests.

While it doesn’t seem like Urias is facing too long a layoff, the Brewers will probably have to turn to their bench depth early to fill in for their starting third baseman.  Milwaukee has multiple third base options but not really a true backup shortstop, as Urias was also seen as the top candidate to play short if Willy Adames needed a breather.  If not Pablo Reyes (who only has a few career games as a shortstop), top prospect Brice Turang hasn’t yet made his MLB debut, and the Brewers probably don’t want to start his service clock until such limited circumstances.

More on other injury situations from around the Show…

  • Reds righty Lucas Sims won’t be on the team’s Opening Day roster since he more time to build up his arm, Sims and manager David Bell told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon).  Sims is healthy now, but is behind schedule since illness and back spasms interrupted his usual offseason work.  “We can re-assess later but [first] make sure the build-up is done right and then we don’t rush into something and have a big deal,” Sims said.  The absence could allow for other pitchers to step up into the closer void, as Sims has been favored as Cincinnati’s top choice for the ninth inning this season, assuming the Reds indeed have a set closer.  The 27-year-old Sims moved to full-time relief work in 2019, and he has a 4.05 ERA and 35.2% strikeout rate in 115 2/3 innings over the last three seasons, though control and home runs have been issues.
  • Tyler Glasnow won’t throw for 2-3 weeks after undergoing an arthroscopic ankle surgery on Friday, according to Rays broadcaster Neil Solondz (Twitter link).  The procedure removed some loose bodies from Glasnow’s right ankle.  While the procedure seems minor, the delay to Glasnow’s rehab from Tommy John surgery could end whatever hope the righty had of pitching in the 2022 season.  Glasnow underwent his Tommy John surgery last August, thus giving him a narrow window to return this season if he hit the low end of the usual 12-15 month TJ recovery timeline.
  • The Twins have shut down Randy Dobnak due to continued soreness in the right-hander’s middle finger on his throwing hand, MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park writes.  It isn’t known how long Dobnak will be sidelined, though it appears as though he won’t be on the Opening Day roster.  Dobnak initially sprained his finger back in late June, and then pitched in only one game the rest of the season due to a pair of 60-day IL placements.  Even prior to the finger problems, Dobnak was already struggling through a rough year, and finished with a 7.64 ERA over 50 2/3 innings.

Twins Select Jovani Moran, Place Randy Dobnak On 60-Day IL

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The Twins announced that left-hander Jovani Moran’s contract has been selected from Triple-A.  In the corresponding moves, Randy Dobnak was moved on the 60-day injured list (thus officially ending Dobnak’s season) and southpaw Andrew Albers was optioned to Triple-A.

Moran was a seventh-round pick for the Twins in the 2015 draft, and the 24-year-old is now on the verge of his Major League debut.  Ranked by MLB Pipeline as the 26th-best prospect in Minnesota’s farm system, Moran has pitched almost exclusively as a reliever since the start of the 2017 season, and emerged with strong performances at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels in 2021.  Moran has a 2.41 ERA over 67 1/3 combined innings at the two levels, along with a very impressive 41.8% strikeout rate.  While recording strikeouts has never been a problem for Moran, though control has been a bit more an issue — his 12.26% walk rate this season roughly matches his career average.

Moran’s fastball sits in the 91-94mph range, though he is best known for his outstanding changeup.  According to Pipeline’s scouting report, “some see it as a double-plus pitch,” to the point that Moran doesn’t often use his third pitch (a somewhat medium-grade slider).  For a Twins team that will be looking for pitching in all forms this winter, Moran certainly has an opportunity in these final few weeks to get himself into the bullpen picture for 2022.

Dobnak was placed on the 10-day IL earlier this week due to a right middle finger sprain, the same injury that saw the right-hander miss over two months of the season in an earlier 60-day IL stint.  The injuries further exacerbated an already rough season for Dobnak, who posted a 7.64 ERA over 50 2/3 innings out of both the Twins’ rotation and bullpen.

Roster Notes: Twins, Rockies, Orioles, Yankees

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The Twins are likely to be without Taylor Rogers and Randy Dobnak for the rest of the season, per MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park (via Twitter). Rogers has missed most of the second half after spraining a finger at the end of July. Before the injury, Rogers was again effective for the Twinkies, appearing 40 times and posting a 3.35 ERA with nine saves and eight holds, though he does have four blown saves as well. Dobnak has essentially been a non-contributor. He went on the injured list with a finger sprain on June 21, and he struggled to open the year.

Let’s check on a couple of roster moves made early on Saturday…

    • The Rockies have reinstated Robert Stephenson from the paternity list and optioned Ben Bowden to Triple-A, per the team. The 26-year-old Bowden has a 6.56 ERA/4.84 FIP in 35 2/3 innings. Stephenson has been a productive member of the Rockies’ bullpen, tossing 38 1/3 innings with a 3.76 ERA/4.02 FIP.
    • The Orioles have recalled Dean Kremer from Triple-A, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). Kremer joins the club as their 29th man for today’s twin bill against the Blue Jays. Kremer will make his 13th start of the season and look to improve upon a 7.25 ERA/6.52 FIP.
    • The Yankees outrighted Jonathan Davis to Triple-A today, per the team. Davis has been an extra man in the Yankees outfield, appearing in just 12 games after being claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays.

AL Central Notes: Perez, Jimenez, Dobnak

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“Everyone destroyed that deal,” a rival executive tells The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal about the general opinion of the Royals’ four-year, $82MM contract extension with Salvador Perez last March.  Though that extension doesn’t kick in until next season, it is now looking like a shrewd move in the wake of Perez’s huge 2021 numbers.  Perez entered today’s action with 42 homers, a .276/.316/.548 slash line, and a league-best 104 RBIs over 569 plate appearances.  While Perez had shown some big power in the past and delivered a .986 OPS during 156 PA in the abbreviated 2020 season, nobody saw this type of slugging breakout coming in the veteran catcher’s age-31 campaign.

What looked like an overpay in March now looks pretty close to what the market value would’ve been for Perez as a free agent this winter, as 2021 was the final year of Perez’s previous deal (a five-year, $52.5MM pact) with Kansas City.  Given Perez’s importance to the Royals organization, the team might have been willing to engage in some form of a bidding war to retain Perez in free agency, though that is a scenario the Royals are undoubtedly pleased to have avoided.

More from around the division…

  • White Sox slugger Eloy Jimenez has missed his team’s last two games due to a bone bruise on his right knee.  The injury is “significant,” manager Tony La Russa told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers and other reporters, though there is some hope Jimenez can return to the lineup in relatively short order.  While sitting in the dugout on Tuesday, Jimenez suffered the injury after being hit by a line drive of an Andrew Vaughn foul ball, and eventually had to leave the game.  The increasingly banged-up White Sox are missing a few key players on the injured list already, though Chicago has plenty of cushion atop the all-but-decided AL Central.
  • The Twins placed right-hander Randy Dobnak on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to September 8) due to a strain in his right middle finger.  Left-hander Andrew Albers was called up from Triple-A to take over Dobnak’s scheduled start in today’s game against the Indians.  Dobnak already missed over two months of the season with another strain involving the same finger, and given both the late date on the calendar and the apparent recurring nature of the injury, it is possible that Dobnak might not pitch again in 2021.  It’s been a tough season for the righty, who pitched so well in his 2020 rookie season that Minnesota inked Dobnak to a five-year extension worth at least $9.25MM in guaranteed money.  Working as both a starter and a reliever this year, Dobnak struggled in both roles, en route to a 7.64 ERA over 50 2/3 innings, with 11 home runs allowed.

Every Team’s Initial September Callups

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The limit on active roster players expanded from 26 to 28 today, as the calendar flipped to September. Every team announced at least two additions to the big league club (some teams made three or more due to injured list placements). Here’s a recap of today’s spate of transactions:

Twins Place Derek Law On 10-Day Injured List, Move Randy Dobnak To 60-Day Injured List

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The Twins announced a number of roster moves today, per Betsy Helfand of the Pioneer Press (Twitter links). First and foremost, Derek Law has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a shoulder impingement. Danny Coulombe also steps away from the team with a trip to the paternity list.

To take their roster spots, Beau Burrows was recalled from Triple-A and Juan Minaya had his contract selected. Charlie Barnes also joins the club to make his Major League debut as the 27th man to start game one of today’s doubleheader. The 25-year-old southpaw has a solid 3.88 ERA across 13 starts in Triple-A this season.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Twins moved Devin Smeltzer and Randy Dobnak to the 60-day injured list. Smeltzer has already been out for more than 60 days, so his movement was largely clerical.

Dobnak, however, has been out since just June 21st with a finger strain. He’s now likely to miss most of the rest of the season. He won’t be eligible to come off the injured list until late August. All in all, it’s been a disappointing season for Dobnak, whom the Twins signed to a five-year, $9.25MM extension back in March. It was a modest deal, but Minnesota still likely expected more from Dobnak than 43 2/3 innings with a 7.83 ERA/6.19 FIP.

Burrows, 24, was claimed off waivers earlier this year after making just one appearance for the Tigers. The right-hander made five appearances for Detroit last season, all out of the bullpen. He throws a fastball, slider, change-up mix, occasionally going to a sinker and curveball, too. Mostly a starter coming up, it will be worth watching to see if Burrows scales back his pitch mix while working regularly in relief.

Minaya, 30, has made four appearances for the Twins this season after getting relatively regular time out of the White Sox bullpen from 2016 to 2019. In that time, Minaya appeared in 125 games while pitching to a 3.93 ERA across 128 1/3 innings.

Law, 30, has nine appearances spanning 15 innings with a 4.20 ERA/4.64 ERA. His strikeout and walk rates aren’t knocking anyone’s socks off, but his ability to soak up multiple innings at a time has been an asset for a Twins team that has struggled at times to get length from their starters. He does not have any options remaining, though he could theoretically see time in the minors on a rehab stint before returning.

Twins Reinstate Alex Kirilloff From 10-Day IL

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The Twins have activated outfielder Alex Kirilloff from the 10-day injured list and also called up right-hander Randy Dobnak from Triple-A, the team announced.  Dobnak will start tonight’s game against the Indians.  Right-hander Bailey Ober and catcher Ben Rortvedt were optioned to Triple-A in corresponding moves.

Kiriloff’s IL placement came with a retroactive date of May 4, so the young outfielder will end up missing 17 days of action — not a bad outcome, considering the somewhat ominous initial reaction to his right wrist sprain.  Kirilloff was going to see a specialist concerning his wrist, which emerged as an injury concern during the 2019 season and limited him to 94 minor league games with the Twins’ Double-A affiliate.

However, Kirilloff will now get back onto the field and resume what was beginning to look like an intriguing rookie season.  A consensus pick as one of the sport’s best prospect, Kirilloff made his debut during the Twins’ postseason run last season and then made his regular-season debut this April, going hitless in his first 14 plate appearances but then batting .321/.333/.857 with four home runs in his next 30 trips to the plate.

Kirilloff has worked almost entirely as a left fielder or first baseman during his brief big league tenure, but he should get some time in right field as the Twins continue to juggle their outfield while Byron Buxton is still injured.  With Buxton out, regular right fielder Max Kepler has seen the bulk of work in center field, with Kyle Garlick, Trevor Larnach, Rob Refsnyder, and utilityman Luis Arraez rotating in and out of the outfield picture.

Twins To Sign Randy Dobnak To Five-Year Extension

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TODAY: Bob Nightengale of USA Today provides the details on Dobnak’s extension. He’ll make $700K this season, $800K in 2022, $1.5MM in 2023, $2.25MM in 2024, and $3MM in 2025, his final year of initial team control. The three team options will be worth $6MM in 2026, $7MM in 2027, and $8.5MM in 2028 with buyouts of $1MM for 2026 and just $100K for both 2027 and 2028.

MARCH 29: The Minnesota Twins are in agreement with right-hander Randy Dobnak on a five-year, $9.25MM extension, per Jeff Passan of ESPN (via Twitter). The deal includes three club option years with escalators that can bring the total amount up to $29.75MM. The first option year in 2026 will include a $1MM buyout, per MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park (via Twitter). That leaves $8.25MM to be spread out among the five seasons prior. For each of the three option years, escalators can add up to $1.8MM per season based on innings pitched thresholds.  Dobnak is a client of Gaeta Sports Management.

This definitely rates as somewhat of a surprise, given that Dobnak, 26, will begin the year in the bullpen after spending all of last season in the rotation. While starting the year in a piggyback role might seem like a demotion, the Twins clearly feel compelled enough by Dobnak’s performance to guarantee his role in the organization for years to come. Further, with just 1.047 days of service time, he wasn’t likely to become arbitration-eligible until 2023.

The Twins, meanwhile, get three additional seasons of optional team control at what are likely to be reasonable rates. Both sides benefit from the financial certainty, though the escalators still provide Dobnak with a path to increasing his future earnings. Importantly, this is likely to be Dobnak’s primary source of career earnings: If the Twins choose to buy out the option years, it’s not likely to lead to a higher salary elsewhere, and if the Twins don’t buyout any of the option years, Dobnak will reach free agency for the first time prior to his age-34 season. Still, given his non-traditional path to professional baseball, it’s certainly understandable why a deal like this would appeal to Dobnak.

His rise, after all, certainly qualifies as one of the less likely origin stories in recent season. The Twins signed Dobnak with a mere $500 signing bonus in July 2017 after scouting him exclusively over YouTube, writes the Athletic’s Dan Hayes. He supplemented his income by driving for Uber and excelled through the Twins’ system despite overwhelming velocity or a knock-out put-away pitch. For a 26-year-old who signed out of independent ball, this deal represents life-changing money.

On the hill, suffice it so say that Dobnak has repeatedly overcome his underdog status to provide valuable innings for Minnesota. He was a genuine revelation in making his debut during the 2019 season, posting a 1.59 ERA/3.92 SIERA in five starts and four relief appearances covering 28 1/3 innings. Dobnak’s sophomore season had more ups-and-downs, but he still managed a 4.05 ERA/4.56 SIERA in 10 starts covering 46 2/3 innings. In 75 total career innings, Dobnak has achieved an excellent 58.8 percent groundball rate with a similarly-encouraging 5.7 percent walk rate and less-than-thrilling 15.7 percent strikeout rate.

He certainly doesn’t fit the mold of today’s hurler. His fastball lands in the 31st percentile for velocity and 5th percentile for spin rate. He is in the 13th percentile for whiff rate and fourth percentile by strikeout rate. Nevertheless, he has been better than average at avoiding barrels and coaxing below-average exit velocity while burning worms and avoiding free passes.

The recipe has worked for Dobnak thus far and earned him a long-term home in Minnesota. His four-seam fastball/sinker averaged just 91.4 mph, but strong arm-side run has proved it particularly effective against righties. He re-worked his slider and increased its usage in 2020 to promising results. While he will begin the season in the bullpen, the Twins rotation features a number of veterans with a history of injuries. It’s highly unlikely that the Twins won’t need to access their depth behind Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios, Michael Pineda, J.A. Happ, and the oft-injured Matt Shoemaker. Chances are the Twins’ mustachioed, bespectacled, newly-wealthy right-hander will be called on for bulk innings in 2021 and beyond.

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