Aaron Rozek is Happy to Keep Playing with ‘House Money’

[Theodore Tollefson]

Another Burnsville native has joined the Saints clubhouse. 28-year-old Aaron Rozek joined the St. Paul Saints and started for them on Saturday. Learn more about his journey with the organization he grew up cheering for. 

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

Saints hitting coach Shawn Schlechter isn’t the only person in the Saints clubhouse from his hometown. Another Burnsville native has joined them. Twenty-eight-year-old Aaron Rozek joined the St. Paul Saints and started for them on Saturday. Learn more about his journey with the organization he grew up cheering for.

In 2021, Aaron Rozek was entering what he believed to be his final season of independent baseball. He had spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons pitching in the Frontier League with the Southern Illinois Miners and Schaumburg Boomers. He sat out 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic changing the world, but he was itching to have one more full season of playing ball.

“When I went to indy ball, it was just to extend being a kid without many responsibilities as long as possible,” Rozek said. “I went into 2021 knowing it was my last season if I was still in indy ball. So as far as I'm concerned, I'm playing with house money, and everything since then has been icing on the cake.”

In late June that year, the unexpected happened, the Minnesota Twins came calling wanting to add him to the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels roster. Rozek was beyond excited. An offer from the Major League he grew up watching and rooting for was something he couldn’t pass up. 

“Knowing where velo stands within baseball and pitchers. I thought there was a very, very small chance that this was ever going to happen,” said Rozek on the contract offer from the Twins.

Rozek said he had no idea how the contract came about from the Twins or how he ended up on their radar this past Wednesday
“I'm glad it happened, but I'm not going to question any further than they give me a contract and allow me to play as much as they have.”

Derek Shomon had been hired by the Twins to be the hitting coach at Low-A Ft. Myers for the 2021 season. He was the bench coach with the Schaumburg Boomers in 2019. The organization needed more pitching depth after the pandemic season, Shomon knew Rozek was just the guy for the Twins to pursue.

St. Paul Saints pitching coach Pete Larson worked alongside Shomon as the pitching coach with the Mighty Mussels in 2021. He confirmed it was Shomon’s knowledge of the Burnsville native that brought him with the Twins organization. 

“He wouldn't be here without Derek Shomon,” Larson said. “He knew Aaron and Aaron trained in one of his facilities and recommended him to the Twins, and that's how we got his name when there was a huge need.”

From there, Rozek took advantage making the most of every opportunity on the mound, not dwelling too much on the bad outcomes, and creating memories with his teammates both on the field and in the clubhouse. And those memories are what he says are the most important part of these last three seasons.

“I was soaking in the moments not so much on the field, but in the clubhouse, maybe some shenanigans with the boys off the field. I soaked in every moment, just making sure I didn't leave a moment for granted. That's what most of us are going to remember, is the stuff away from the field and the clubhouse, all the silly moments,” Rozek said. 

When Rozek arrived in the Saints clubhouse last week, reuniting with Schlechter wasn't just an occasion of Burnsville High School grads coming together. They were old friends, despite the age gap, from their Burnsville High School Baseball days.

"Back when I was in high school one of my good buddies, his younger brother, and him (Rozek) were good friends growing up. Aaron and I go back to playing basketball in the backyard together and it's cool to come back home and share this experience together. He's just such a good guy and he works hard," Schlechter said on his fellow BHS grad.

Rozek has stayed true to himself as he’s climbed up the affiliates of Minor League Baseball. Larson, who has been Rozek’s pitching coach at Low-A and Double-A, said he is one pitcher always crossing his t’s and dotting his i’s with his routines before every game.

“It strictly is very genuine and I love it. It's great and you don't have to worry about him. He's going to take care of his stuff. He's going to get his workouts and he's going get his treatments done and you really don't have to worry about them,” Larson said. 

Power is not a part of Rozek’s pitching arsenal. Most of the pitches he throws are off-speed and breaking balls, primarily relying on his slider, curveball, and changeup to get batters out.

“He's a crafty lefty trying to change speeds, use the whole zone and the whole plate, and mix and match righty versus lefty,” Larson said. 

Rozek’s 2024 season also began with some uncertainty. He was held back in Ft. Myers due to injury and didn’t know where he’d be assigned to start the year. 

“It was definitely a surprise,” Rozek said on his call-up to the Saints. “It was always nice to know I was coming home. Drew MacPhail, our head of player development, let me know. I was at the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels game, I was hanging out, couldn't hear anything. So I ran out of the stadium and got the news that way.” 

Reflecting on the extra time in Ft. Myers. Rozek had the opportunity was able to meet his Twins idol who inspired him to keep pitching through it all.

“That was why I fell in love with pitching. He's why I love the changeup that's my like, go-to pitch all throughout my career. Johan Santana has been a very big part of why I fell in love with baseball and seeing him it was, it was weird. But very cool. He’s a smart individual and I’m just blessed to have met him and shake his hand,” Rozek said. 

His career numbers in the minors are not of Santana’s caliber and don’t flash off the back of his baseball card. He’s complied a 4.66 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 5.05 FIP, 15.6 K%, and 8.2 BB% in 232 career innings. But Rozek’s ability to make his ‘crafty lefty’ style work has gotten him to the point of being a step away from potentially making his MLB debut with the team he grew up cheering for. 

Rozek had a lackluster first outing with the Saints on Saturday, throwing three innings, giving up seven hits, three runs, (one off a home run), and a walk. He still struck out three batters and his offense came back to tie the game up, even though they lost to the Iowa Cubs 4-3.

Despite all that, the house money Rozek started his Twins career with has only piled higher each time he takes the mound. He’s had an opportunity many kids dreamed of in Little League but never fulfilled, and at the end of the day, that’s what matters to him most.

“I got a pretty large stack in front of me right now playing with some solid cards. I’m happy to be here. I'm trying to hammer having fun with the game and not letting what happens on the field dictate how I am off the field.”
 

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[Mortimerkenny21]

Nice story! Good for him.

[Rosterman]

Hope he can get a taste of the show!

[Twinsgypsy]

A nice hometown piece that gives a possible scenario of " Crafty Lefty " making it to the Big House.  I hope he gets a shot to make the Big League and live out his dream.  This would be an awesome ending to an already cool story.