Twins Minor League Report (7/25): Randy Dobnak Does it Again, Yasser Mercedes Promoted

[Ted Schwerzler]

For weeks, Randy Dobnak has been the highlight of the Minnesota Twins farm system on the mound. There was more of that tonight. Yasser Mercedes drew a promotion, and wins were plentiful.

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 56-45
St. Paul Saints: 49-49
Wichita Wind Surge: 38-55
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 53-38
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 49-41
FCL Twins: 28-31 (Season Complete) 
DSL Twins: 18-18

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Jay Jackson has been released from St. Paul by Minnesota
• C Jair Camargo was optioned to St. Paul and activated. 
• The Twins signed minor-league veteran RHP Mason Fox out of the independent Atlantic League. He was in the Padres organization from 2018 through 2023, which he missed due to injury. He was assigned to the Wind Surge. 
• Wichita placed LHP Jaylen Nowlin on the 7-Day IL.
• OF Yasser Mercedes promoted to Low-A Fort Myers

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 5, Omaha 2
Box Score
Randy Dobnak drew the start on Thursday for the Saints. He was passed over for David Festa with the Twins on Wednesday, but he showed up in a big way against the Storm Chasers. He worked seven innings, and came out for the eighth, before bowing out. Ronny Henriquez gave up an inherited runner to tally one for Dobnak, but the Saints starter scattered seven hits while walking none and striking out five.

Alex Isola scored DaShawn Keirsey Jr. on a single in the first inning before Patrick Winkel drove him home to make it 2-0. Dalton Shuffield scored the third run on a second inning wild pitch and a rehabbing Jose Miranda made it 4-0 in the fourth on a double that scored Keirsey Jr.

A Payton Eeles single scored Winkel in the fifth inning to make it 5-0, and a couple of less than notable Omaha runs weren’t going to change the outing. Winkel finished with three hits while Shuffield tripled and Miranda doubled to record the extra-base knocks.

The Saints moved back to .500, and Dobnak dropped his ERA to 3.61 on the season. The expectation should be that Miranda is on a flight to rejoin Minnesota.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Amarillo 3, Wichita 2
Box Score
Christian MacLeod made his Double-A debut for Wichita and worked 4 2/3 innings. He was charged with three runs on four hits and four walks. He also struck out four but allowed a pair of home runs.

Down 3-0 after the third inning, Wichita had work to do. It wasn’t until the ninth inning that they answered, It began with a Tanner Schobel triple. Tyler Dearden and Andrew Cossetti scored, but the tying run was stranded 90 feet from home.

Dearden and Schobel both had a pair of hits on the evening. Luke Keaschall and Dearden drew a walk each to represent the pair for Wichita.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Quad Cities 5, Cedar Rapids 3
Box Score
Jeremy Lee was on the bump for the Kernels and he punched out six while allowing just a single earned run on four hits across 5 2/3 innings on Thursday night. Nolan Santos came on for 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief while striking out three.

Kyle Hess singled home Misael Urbina in the third inning to score the game’s first run before Jay Harry drove home Kevin Maitan in the sixth inning. After the River Bandits got on back in the bottom of the frame, Hess scored on a seventh inning wild pitch to make it 3-1. A ninth inning grand slam by Shervyen Newton walked off the good guys and gave Quad Cities a 5-3 win.

Hess was joined by Gabriel Gonzalez as the only batters to record a pair of hits. Hess’ double was also the lone extra-base hit of the evening and Gonzalez was nabbed trying to steal.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 6, Dunedin 2
Box Score
Spencer Bengard worked five innings of scoreless baseball. The Mighty Mussels starter gave up just two hits while walking one and striking one out. Juan Mercedes and Kyle Bloor also worked scoreless relief outings.

The sides were even until the fifth inning when Byron Chourio doubled home Maddux Houghton to break the scoreless tie. Brandon Winokur launched his sixth home run of the season to make it 2-0 in the sixth inning and then the seventh inning got wild. Playing in his first Low-A game, Yasser Mercedes reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Houghton, Yohander Martinez, and Chourio. WinZzce fly to score Mercedes and make it a 6-0 game.

The Blue Jays plated a pair in the ninth inning, but it was ultimately too little, too late.

Chourio and Matthew Clayton both had a pair of hits for Fort Myers. Mercedes went 0-for-5 with a run and a walk in his Mighty Mussels debut. 

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 1, FCL Orioles 0
Box Score
Dylan Questad started and worked two innings of scoreless baseball. He gave up a single hit and struck out two. The Twins allowed just three hits across seven shutout innings as a team. The struck out five and walked only one.

Dameury Pena opened the scoring with a third inning sacrifice fly that scored Omari Daniel. That wound up being the only run of the game. Pena didn’t record a hit but did tally a walk.

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Marlins 8, DSL Twins
Box Score
It was a back and forth tilt on Thursday for the Twins and Marlins. The Twins wound up using six different pitchers, and none threw more than two innings. Sebastian Pulido and Aaron Carranza were the only arms to work scoreless outings.

After getting behind in the first inning, the Twins responded with a three-spot to take the lead. The Marlins jumped back ahead 4-3 in the third inning, but the Twins evened it up in the bottom half. Tied at six after the top of the eighth inning, the Twins scored a run in the bottom and grabbed the lead again at 7-6. Aiberson Ventura balked with runners on the corners to give up the lead again, and the Twins needed a run in the ninth to walk it off.

Despite pushing Merphy Hernandez to second in the bottom of the ninth, the Twins couldn’t get him home. Extras were needed to settle things. The Marlins got one in the tenth and the Twins couldn’t answer, ultimately coming up one run short.

Daiber De Los Santos and Merphy Hernandez recorded a pair of hits, while the Twins had eight hits on the day. Hernandez scored a pair of runs, as did De Los Santos. Drawing six walks, Carlos Silva and Luis Fragoza each recorded a pair of them. The Twins didn’t have an extra-base hit, but both Hernandez(3) and De Los Santos(2) stole multiple bases.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Randy Dobnak (St. Paul) - 7.0+ IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Hitter of the Day – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) - 1-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, K

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Thursday. 
#5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 2-4, BB, K
#9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 0-3, BB, K
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 1-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, K
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 2-4, 2 RBI, 3B, K
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 1-5, K

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul vs Omaha (7:07 PM CST) – RHP Adam Plutko (4-1, 4.44 ERA)
Wichita @ Amarillo (7:05 PM CST) – RHP Marco Raya (0-3, 5.83 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CST) – RHP Darren Bowen (2-5, 6.46 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 PM CST) – RHP Tanner Hall (2-0, 4.85 ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday’s games!

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[mikelink45]

Good for Randy - but with young arms like Festa and Zebby and Morris and Varland I do not see Randy in the Twins rotation unless we catch and run away from the Guardians and he is one of the two extras at the end of the season.  

[Doctor Gast]

It's hard for me to see if Dobnak fits into the Twins' plans. But for years even before he hurt his finger, I thought that Dobbie would be a good fit for a team like CO. It's a shame that the Twins haven't been able to sell him to other teams where he could pitch in the MLB & the Twins unload his contract.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/07/d-backs-to-acquire-a-j-puk.html

I saw SEA trading for Arozarena & AZ picking up my LHRP choice AJ Puk. It has started. Will the Twins do anything worth anything? It doesn't look like it. But doing nothing at this point is better than doing something stupid.

[strumdatjag]

Festa had a nice effort on Wednesday.  But what else does Randy Dobnak have to do to prove he has earned a call up??? 

[Dman]

I watched most of the Saints game last night but missed the beginning. I will say Randy seemed to be back to the old Randy.  It is a bit smoke and mirrors, but he was getting a ton of ground balls and they were hit right at his fielders.  A lot of fairly weak contact and he got them to swing early and put it in play.  That Storm Chasers lineup is a good one so this was a good test.

Still he ran into trouble around the 4th or 5th inning and looked to be tiring that inning, but was saved by a double play and eventually he went 7 and cam out for the 8th only to hit two guys and leave.  

I mean he looked good and efficient, but will his stuff play at the MLB level?  I just don't know if I trust that it will.  Still he is one of the better pitchers in AAA so far this season.  I said I would never believe in him again as he has teased like this before, but here we are.

I still think Festa is ahead of him as he can strike guys out and has a major league fastball. He and Varland might be close but Varland is on the 40 man and he is not.  If Matthews continues to produce at the AAA level he likely would get the 40 man spot.  I don't know how he would get back on the 40 man to see if his 92MPH fastball and breaking stuff would play, but he is looking like a viable 5th starter type right now. The caveat being a low K rate and high ground ball rate so you have to hope those balls don't find holes for him to hold up.

[LambchoP]

Maybe we can throw Dobnak in along with a younger prospect to get his contract off our books and bring in a LHRP?

[MinnInPa]

i see Dobnak in Twins future plans.. best plans would be a trade to a team that needs a # 5 starter due to injuries.. i just dont think he'd bring anything promising in return

[cmoss84]

We have the Fight Club guy?

I bet he can hit...

[DJL44]

54 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

Maybe we can throw Dobnak in along with a younger prospect to get his contract off our books and bring in a LHRP?

The best use of Dobnak would be to trade him to the Blue Jays in return for Kikuchi. That would make the trade payroll neutral for the Twins but he wouldn't count toward the luxury tax for the Jays.

[LambchoP]

29 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

The best use of Dobnak would be to trade him to the Blue Jays in return for Kikuchi. That would make the trade payroll neutral for the Twins but he wouldn't count toward the luxury tax for the Jays.

I'd love it if we could pull this off. Not sure Dobnak alone would be enough to grab Kikuchi though. If we get Kikuchi then a LHRP is the only other true need.

[jmlease1]

nice promotion for Mercedes. Interesting prospect there and was hitting very well in rookie ball. Looking forward to seeing how he manages in Ft. Myers.

[DJL44]

36 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

I'd love it if we could pull this off. Not sure Dobnak alone would be enough to grab Kikuchi though. If we get Kikuchi then a LHRP is the only other true need.

If the Twins include Dobnak in any trade they will need to add more to the trade than if they don't. Dobnak has negative trade value. Dobnak + #10 prospect would be equivalent to trading the #20 prospect alone.

[Mike Sixel]

I don't know what Colorado has to lose in trying Dobnak. Always seems like they should get him for a ptbnl....

[roger]

With all the above talk about trading Dobber, I was wondering if he has pitched himself into the conversation of a return to the Twins later this year?  He was a solid starter before the finger injury.  Is it possible he has finally put the injury behind him and learned how to pitch without whatever limitations remain from that injury?

[mikelink45]

4 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

It's hard for me to see if Dobnak fits into the Twins' plans. But for years even before he hurt his finger, I thought that Dobbie would be a good fit for a team like CO. It's a shame that the Twins haven't been able to sell him to other teams where he could pitch in the MLB & the Twins unload his contract.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/07/d-backs-to-acquire-a-j-puk.html

I saw SEA trading for Arozarena & AZ picking up my LHRP choice AJ Puk. It has started. Will the Twins do anything worth anything? It doesn't look like it. But doing nothing at this point is better than doing something stupid.

Putting Randy in the high elevation of CO would be a disaster for him

[DocBauer]

The way Dobnak is throwing the past month or so, I could have seen him getting some ML rotation time as recently as last season instead of brining in Keuchel as a late season innings eater to save on some arms. The problem is, we now have Festa, Varland still, and Matthews recently promoted to AAA and riding a high tide. I just don't know that they'd make room for Dobnak on the 40 man right now. 

Healthy again, what he did at the ML level previously when  healthy, and what he's doing now, I think he could be a potentially solid #5 for someone. I just don't know where or how he fits in right now. But I agree he could be sent back to someone else to fill a rotation spot if the Twins acquire a starter at the deadline. 

From a good story perspective, I'd love to see him get a shot with the Twins again and look good. For a good guy, I'm just hoping he gets an opportunity with someone, if not the Twins.

[Dman]

13 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Putting Randy in the high elevation of CO would be a disaster for him

I'm not sure how a primarily ground ball pitcher would suffer in high elevation?  Wouldn't he be the cure to a fly ball pitcher? His ground ball rate is why a team like CO should be interested IMO.

[Mike Sixel]

10 minutes ago, Dman said:

I'm not sure how a primarily ground ball pitcher would suffer in high elevation?  Wouldn't he be the cure to a fly ball pitcher? His ground ball rate is why a team like CO should be interested IMO.

that and they have an insufficient number of pitchers and he was successful at one point. What do they have to lose, they already stink.

[Doctor Gast]

42 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Putting Randy in the high elevation of CO would be a disaster for him

Dobbie is GB pitcher, what makes you say that? I'm just curious

[mnfireman]

How come the Twins can't seem to add MPH to Dobnak's FB? They manage to do so for everybody else.

With how fast Berrios is falling, I don't know if Toronto wants another Twins pitcher.

[DJL44]

Spencer Bengard has an ERA of 1.64 in 60 innings for Fort Myers. Move him up to Cedar Rapids.

[mikelink45]

6 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Dobbie is GB pitcher, what makes you say that? I'm just curious

No matter how good the pitcher - CO has ruined many of them.  

[Doctor Gast]

17 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

No matter how good the pitcher - CO has ruined many of them.  

CO has ruined many pitchers because HRs fly out of there. Ground ball (GB) pitchers like Dobbie limit HRs, a type of pitcher that typically do better there.

[jorgenswest]

The lighter air does help the ball travel further. It also has an impact on some pitches more than others. It is not as simple as acquire groundball pitchers. 

Mario DeGenz from Purple Row at SBNation did a six part series on pitching at altitude. These were his four attributes for a pitcher suited to defy the effects of altitude at Coors Field.

1. Above average or better velocity.
2. Supination dominant
3. Elite extension
4. Lower than average release point

How many of those attributes are a match to Randy Dobnak?

 

[cmoss84]

13 hours ago, cmoss84 said:

We have the Fight Club guy?

I bet he can hit...

Durden. Tyler Durden was the correct answer. Ours is spelled Tyler DEARDEN. maybe this is how you say Durden if you're Scottish?