Minor League Report (9/28): Saints Win in a Season Send-Off

[Matt Braun]

Another minor league season sent to the history books.

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

 

TRANSACTIONS
None

Saints Sentinel 
St. Paul 3, Omaha 1
Box Score
Randy Dobnak: 4 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Nash Knight (2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI)

The Saints won their final game of the season on Wednesday.

It had been an inconsistent and bumpy year—one similar to the season their parent franchise underwent—but the team gathered their ability and sent the fans home happy with a triumphant ending. 

Randy Dobnak manned the mound; the righty sinkerball specialist—so used to harvesting command at will—found success through unpredictable chaos; he walked three but allowed a single hit against seven strikeouts. Dobnak missed a quality start by an out. The man known for his tremendous mustache may no longer reside on the 40-man roster, but he has an entire off-season to iron out deficiencies, and he could contribute positively to a future Twins team.

St. Paul’s offense remained as dormant as their enemy; Saints batters continuously walked back to the dugout, befuddled at Alec Marsh’s stuff for inning after inning until the 5th frame. There—Nash Knight ripped a double down the right-field line, scoring Andrew Bechtold.

The game remained quiet until Knight—yet again a thorn in Omaha’s side—dashed home on a wild pitch, adding a run to the lead. The inning did not end there, however; St. Paul nabbed a third and final run when Cole Sturgeon singled in Frank Nigro.

Mario Sanchez worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Dobnak, striking out three while allowing a pair of hits and walks. 

The Saints end the year 74-75, tied for 4th in the IL West division; a slight step down from their 67-63 record in 2021, although in a different divisional context. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Randy Dobnak
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Nash Knight

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#9 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 2-3, 2B, 3 RBI, BB, K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
None! 

FEEDBACK
Thank you for always being so supportive of the minor league report, as well as your participation in some great discussions in the comments. As you know, there will be a lot of minor league coverage here throughout the offseason. Next week, Twins Spotlight will return for its third Off(season). Let us know what more you would like to see. 

 

 

View full article

[h2oface]

"Dobnak missed a quality start by an out."

As far as I know, a "quality start" is defined as a start where the pitcher pitches at least 6 innings and gives up no more than 3 earned runs.

Dobnak only pitched 4.2 innings. Is a quality start in the minors now different than the majors, and you only need to go 5 innings? I must have missed that memo.

[Rosterman]

It once was impossible to get a ticket to a Saints game. What has changed since they joined the Twins organization? 

Comfortable, wonderful park. Excellent to walk the concourse. Decent food at affordable prices. Plus, you get to see the occasional top-flight prospect!

[Nashvilletwin]

Thank you for the outstanding coverage of our minor league teams throughout the season. I enjoyed reading your summaries every morning. Well done and much appreciated. 

[Blyleven2011]

We still have the AFL  to report on our twins prospects  ....

[RJA]

For me, it is always a sad day when the minor league season ends.  I enjoy following prospects and the minor leagues as much as I enjoy following the Twins.  I can't wait for revised prospect lists, the AFL, 40 man roster decisions, the off season handbook, etc.  The hot stove league is about to begin.

[4twinsJA]

Thanks for the great reporting on the minor league season by TD staff

[Doctor Gast]

Dobnak being out for such a long time, it's good to see him have a good outing. I imagine he has ditched his new slider.

I'm also excited to hear about our prospects in the AFL.

[tony&rodney]

Thanks for the reports. I watched too much milb.com this year; loved it.

It is interesting to watch the games and see what they look like compared to their peers and what might be expected from any player at the next level.

[roger]

Thanks to all of you for another fantastic season of reporting to keep us up to date on what is happening down on the farm.  Having three of four full season teams in the playoffs was a success, a HUGE success.

Hopefully, those young men who delivered this success will continue to improve and bring that success to the Twins...beginning next year.

[Steve Lein]

1 hour ago, Blyleven2011 said:

We still have the AFL  to report on our twins prospects  ....

Yes we do! ? 

Season starts on Monday!

[Steve Lein]

49 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Thanks for the reports. I watched too much milb.com this year; loved it.

It is interesting to watch the games and see what they look like compared to their peers and what might be expected from any player at the next level.

MiLB.tv is highly underrated! Especially for anyone who didn't want to, or couldn't, pony up to watch the Twins on BSN this year (I was one of them, but watched plenty of games in other ways). But I did watch a ton of minor league games, all for a 1-time fee of $39.99 I believe.

[RJA]

22 minutes ago, Steve Lein said:

MiLB.tv is highly underrated! Especially for anyone who didn't want to, or couldn't, pony up to watch the Twins on BSN this year (I was one of them, but watched plenty of games in other ways). But I did watch a ton of minor league games, all for a 1-time fee of $39.99 I believe.

I agree 100%.  I still like making trips to minor league parks, but MiLB.tv is a great resource for scouting prospects, both on our minor league teams and others.  And, you can watch them anytime and switch back and forth.  I know I sound like a commercial for MiLB.tv, but I really do think it is a great deal.  

[Unwinder]

1 hour ago, RJA said:

I agree 100%.  I still like making trips to minor league parks, but MiLB.tv is a great resource for scouting prospects, both on our minor league teams and others.  And, you can watch them anytime and switch back and forth.  I know I sound like a commercial for MiLB.tv, but I really do think it is a great deal.  

I have MILB.tv and love it, sometimes I really want to watch a particular prospect, sometimes I just want baseball on in the background when I'm working on something in the garage (or the kitchen). I subscribed during the offseason when it was going for even less than the 39.99 price, and used it to catch up on archived games with Balazovic, SWR, Martin, and Varland, who I hadn't had a chance to see in action yet. Only problem is that it has bad-to-no closed captioning, particularly in the lower affiliates, which is annoying because I often want to watch it while putting the baby to sleep.

[Yoke]

Thanks to everyone at Twins Daily for the reports all season. It’s a nice way to be familiar with people when they eventually make it to the Twins.

 

Also, my wife would karate chop me in the larynx if I got milb.tv. Watching more baseball, and with granier picture, probably wouldn’t pass

[USNMCPO]

thanks to all the writers who helped out on the minor league reports. It was a lot of fun and had to have been a lot of work (labor of love?)

[nclahammer]

Twins Daily is "Simply the best" when it comes coverage of the Minnesota Twins and their minor league affiliates.  Thanks TD on another terrific season of reporting.

[Otaknam]

On 9/28/2022 at 8:39 PM, h2oface said:

"Dobnak missed a quality start by an out."

As far as I know, a "quality start" is defined as a start where the pitcher pitches at least 6 innings and gives up no more than 3 earned runs.

Dobnak only pitched 4.2 innings. Is a quality start in the minors now different than the majors, and you only need to go 5 innings? I must have missed that memo.

Thx for pointing out the definition of a quality start. Maybe a five inning start is a Rocco quality start. The rest of us know better. 

[Linus]

Like others I want to thank everyone involved in putting these minor league reports. Coverage not available elsewhere and really nice to have when the big club is struggling 

[operation mindcrime]

Thanks to everyone involved for all the great coverage this season!!!!! \m/