St Paul Saints Announce 2024 Roster

Tickets are still available on the Saints website for both games. It should be a fun season with the Saints as they will be Minnesota’s primary source of prospect depth. 

While it’s a new year for the Saints at CHS Field, there are plenty of fresh faces. Multiple Twins top prospects will don a uniform in St. Paul this year, and plenty of exciting games can be taken in just a short distance from Target Field.

Coaching Staff
Toby Gardenhire is back for his fifth season as the Saints manager. Taking over as the new hitting coach is Shawn Schlecter. Tyler Smarslok is the team's Bench Coach and usually the first base coach as well. As all Twins affiliates do, the Saints have two pitching coaches. Peter Larson joins the Saints staff this year. He has quickly moved up the Twins organizational ladder. Larson is joined by newcomer Dan Urbina.

Pitchers
Rocco Baldelli will need rotation depth, and these are the guys who will provide it.

Starting Pitchers: Randy Dobnak, Brent Headrick, Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa, Caleb Boushley.
Last season Bailey Ober began his year with Triple-A St. Paul. This time around he comes into the season as Minnesota’s fifth starter. This group could be called upon at any moment, and while Louie Varland was originally ticketed to be part of it, an injury to Anthony DeSlacafani earned him a spot on the big league roster.

Dobnak will get the Opening Day start for St. Paul, and a big year for him could earn a trip back to the big leagues for the first time since 2021. No longer dealing with finger issues, and working on a new changeup, he appears primed for a season that could be invaluable to Minnesota across town.

Headrick and Woods Richardson have both spent considerable time with the Saints. Each has made their big league debut, and fine tuning stuff to provide innings at the next level will be the goal. Top pitching prospect David Festa is now knocking on the door of his promotion, and he reached Triple-A for a slight cup of coffee last year. He should be expected to anchor the rotation in 2024, and he’s definitely an arm worth the price of admission.

Last year Boushley reached the majors for the first time appearing with the Milwaukee Brewers. Minnesota signed him to a minor league deal in January, and the 30-year-old will be looking to replicate his 2022 success. Pitching significant innings at the Triple-A level for both Milwaukee and San Diego, Boushley is quality veteran depth.

Weekend Rotation
SATURDAY: David Festa followed by Randy Dobnak
SUNDAY: Brent Headrick

Relief Pitchers: Jordan Balazovic, Ronny Henriquez, Matt Bowman, Ryan Jensen, Jeff Brigham, Michael Boyle, Joe Gunkel, Scott Blewett, Jeff Brigham,Diego Castillo, Hobie Harris, Matt Canterino (IL), Jovani Moran (IL), Austin Schulfer (IL)
This is a big group of relievers, and a couple of notable names will begin the year on the injured list. Canterino wound up hurt late in camp and will be working his way back from a shoulder injury. Moran underwent Tommy John surgery and shouldn’t be expected to pitch this season.

How Gardenhire utilizes these arms remains to be seen. Balazovic is no longer on the 40 man roster, and after a debut last year, he needs to work on becoming a consistent reliever if he wants to make it back. Henriquez re-signed with the Twins organization, and was young for the level a year ago. It will be worth monitoring to see what improvements he has made. Schulfer has put together some impressive campaigns, and after a less than ideal year in 2023, a fresh start with solid performances could put him in the big leagues at some point in 2024. It’s unfortunate he will begin the year on the injured list with a forearm strain.

We saw names like Jensen, Brigham, Harris, and Bowman work often during Grapefruit League action. The Saints have a good deal of veteran depth in the bullpen. With Minnesota already missing so many players from their unit, seeing some of these arms start strong would provide a better sense of the depth the farm can provide.

Catchers: Jair Camargo, Chris Williams, Alex Isola, Patrick Winkel
This tandem returns after playing together much of last season. Tony Wolters is no longer there to provide veteran depth, but Camargo is now on the Twins 40-man roster and immediately becomes an option should either Ryan Jeffers or Christian Vazquez go down. Williams put up an impressive .847 OPS in his first full season with St. Paul last year and he has continued to show a big power bat. He spent limited time behind the plate last season, but will continue to get work back there.

Both Isola and Winkel should be expected to get plenty of reps behind the plate as well. Isola will be making his Triple-A debut after playing 114 games for Double-A Wichita last season. He posted an .846 OPS and has produced offensively at each stop. Like Isola, Winkel spent the entirety of his 2023 season at Double-A. This is his fourth year in the Twins system and he has risen a level each season. The offensive production isn’t as substantial, but he did record a career-best ten homers in 2023.

Infielders: Austin Martin, Yunior Severino, Jose Miranda, Anthony Prato, Will Holland, Michael Helman, Brooks Lee (IL)
There are plenty of notable prospects here, obviously headlined by Lee. Unfortunately a late spring back spasm has turned into a larger issue, and he remains down in Fort Myers. Expected to be out a couple of weeks, Gardenhire will need to look elsewhere for shortstop reps. Severino should serve as the regular first baseman again, and now on the 40-man roster, he is knocking on the door to the big leagues.

Both Helman and Prato have put up gaudy numbers at Triple-A, and both can continue to fine tune their game with the Saints. Helman is looking for a completely healthy season, and Prato is hoping that the numbers following his promotion to St. Paul are back again for another season.

Holland is the only player among this group to be making a Triple-A debut. The 2019 fifth round pick posted just a .606 OPS last year across 101 games with Wichita, but he is being bumped up a level and is soon-to-be 26 years old.

Outfielders: DaShawn Keirsey Jr., Yoyner Fajardo, Trevor Larnach (IL)
With Matt Wallner now in the big leagues the Saints outfield takes on a different look in the year ahead. Keirsey Jr. earned a midseason promotion following a successful start with Double-A Wichita. He should be expected to be among the first prospects called upon if a need in centerfield arises. Trevor Larnach missed out on the Twins opening day roster, and unfortunately health and ineffectiveness have kept him from cementing a spot in the big leagues. He too, like Lee, remains in Fort Myers but should be only considered day-to-day dealing with turf toe.

Because Larnach is on the injured list, the outfield configuration could be interesting for Gardenhire out of the gate. Fajardo is the only other true outfielder, but obviously there are plenty of utility types that can fill in. Fajardo came to the Twins organization last season after spending his professional career in the Pirates organization. Across 123 games at Double-A, he batted .305 and had a strong .820 OPS. While not a top prospect, he could blossom into a nice depth piece at 25.

TWINS DAILY TOP 20 PROSPECTS
#2 - Brooks Lee
#6 - David Festa
#7 - Austin Martin
#16 - Yunior Severino
#17 - Matt Canterino
#20 - Simeon Woods Richardson