Twins call up quick-rising right-hander Randy Dobnak

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Being promoted is nothing new for right-hander Randy Dobnak.

Dobnak, who started the year at Single-A Fort Myers, was called up by the Minnesota Twins on Thursday afternoon. He’ll have the opportunity to make his MLB debut during a four-game set against Cleveland at Target Field.

To make room on the roster, right-hander Kohl Stewart was optioned to Triple-A Rochester.



The Dobnak story is a good one. Dobnak went undrafted out of Alderson Broaddus University, a Division II school located in West Virginia. He was playing independent ball for the Utica Unicorns of the United Shore Professional Baseball League in 2017 when Minnesota signed him into the organization.

Dobnak excelled immediately. In 2018, the right-hander logged a 10-5 record, 3.14 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 129 innings pitched (24 appearances, 20 starts) for Single-A Cedar Rapids.

This season, Dobnak allowed just one run in 22 1/3 innings for Single-A Fort Myers before being promoted to Double-A on May 2. He posted a 4-2 record and 2.57 ERA at Double-A, and allowed eight runs in 36 innings pitched (2.00 ERA) along with 27 strikeouts and a .175 opponent batting average for Triple-A Rochester.

Stewart, the Twins’ first-round pick in 2013, has allowed 14 earned runs in 22 1/3 innings (5.64 ERA) while pitching for Minnesota this season. He yielded four runs in three innings of relief during the Twins’ 11-7 loss to Atlanta on Wednesday.

Dobnak, according to his Twitter account, has an Uber rating of 4.99 out of 5 stars.

Now that’s just impressive.