It had been nearly three years since Randy Dobnak last stepped foot on a major league mound when he came out of the bullpen for the Twins on July 31 to face the New York Mets at Citi Field.

The 29-year-old right-hander has been an anchor in the Saints’ rotation the last two seasons after battling back from injury, and he’ll be in his familiar position on the mound on Friday night at CHS Field to face the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

He’ll do so as someone thankful for the three weeks he recently spent in a Twins uniform, and as someone confident he will find his way back to the big leagues.

Dobnak made four relief appearances with the Twins before returning to the Saints on August 12. He pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits.

“I always knew that I had the stuff and the work ethic to get back,” Dobnak said prior to Tuesday’s game with the RailRiders. “It was just a matter of me going out there and performing, being consistent, and really, opportunity. They have a really good team up there, so you’ve got to take advantage when you get the opportunity.”

Overall, he was pleased with the way he performed.

“Minus the walks,” Dobnak said. “That’s almost a part of my game now. I’m getting more strikeouts, but I’m also allowing more walks. But it’s limiting the damage, really; no homers.

“The movement of my pitches was really good; I got some bad swings. Even some of the hits were kind of weak hits. I was curious to see how my stuff would work up there. I guess, so far, so good.”

Dobnak — who pitched for the Twins for three seasons from 2019-2021 — didn’t envision that it would take nearly three years to get back to the majors but said the call-up came at an appropriate time.

“Last year I had a lot of ups and downs,” he said. “It was a really weird year. My pitches weren’t exactly where I wanted them to be movement-wise. I was giving up too many homers, too many walks, not striking out enough guys.

“This year I’ve gotten the movement back on my pitches. I have some different pitches, and the results have been a lot better than last year.”

Dobnak considers himself a “calm and collected” type of person, so he didn’t get too emotional about his return to the major leagues. But there were plenty of moments that brought a smile to his face, including the warm greetings from former Saints teammates and players he came through the system with.

“My wife and baby got to go to Chicago on the team flight for the family trip,” Dobnak added. “My parents came to Wrigley (Field in Chicago), they came to New York for one game. It was pretty cool to have all of them around.”

Dobnak has one year remaining on a 5-year, $9.25 million deal he signed in 2021. He’s scheduled to make $3 million next season. The Twins have a team option that would pay Dobnak $6 million for 2026, with a $1 million buyout.

The Twins also hold options for 2027 ($7 million) and 2028 ($8.5 million). Dobnak plans to keep pitching as long as he can but is realistic enough to know that he’ll likely be taking a pay cut after next season.

In the meantime, he’s been making good money as a minor league pitcher.

“It’s nice that my wife doesn’t need to work,” Dobnak said. “She can stay home and be a full-time mom. So the financial part is the nice part.

“Obviously, I want to be out there playing every day. I don’t want to take the money and run. That’s probably something I could have (done) if I wanted to, but that’s not how I was raised. I like to play, I like to compete.”

Related Articles

St. Paul Saints end 10-game losing streak with massive comeback

Saints’ Morris is latest prospect in Twins’ arms race

St. Paul Saints’ losing streak grows to nine games with walk-off loss to Indianapolis

Indianapolis’ Thomas Harrington, two relievers shut out Saints and send them to eighth straight loss

Caleb Boushley delivers strong start but St. Paul Saints lose seventh straight