There are not many question marks on the Minnesota Twins
26-man roster coming into the 2020 season. Jake Cave and Willians Astudillo are
in contention for the final bench spot, and the rotation has turned into a two-man
race. How do Randy Dobnak and Jhoulys Chacin stack up?
Coming into the spring there’s no denying the Twins hope was
to have the veteran Chacin make this decision easy. Forget that Dobnak was the
game two starter during the 2019 ALDS in Yankees Stadium, he’s a guy that
showed up out of nowhere and has options remaining. The caveat though, is that
he is the one continuing to force Minnesota’s hand.
By now you know the story. Former Uber driver that played
through all three levels of the farm in 2019 while posting a ridiculous 2.07
ERA, he’s the fun-loving guy with the handlebar mustache. Although he deviates
from the traditional strikeout hurlers of today, he’s also incredibly strong
with both his control and command. In not allowing hitters to beat him with big
innings, he’s pitching in front of a lineup that will always give him a chance.
After arguably his worst spring start, Dobnak now own a line
of 10.0 IP 5 H 3 R 3 ER 3 BB and 6 K. Dominant, maybe not, but he’s looked the
part of a big leaguer ever single time he’s stepped on the mound. Again, with
the Twins hoping to unlock the 2018 Milwaukee Brewers version of Chacin, this
wasn’t likely part of the equation.
The long-time vet was an absolute mess last year. Jhoulys
posted a 5.79 ERA while walking everyone before being jettisoned from The Crew.
He landed in Boston and things actually got worse. Contributing just north of
14 IP, he tallied an ERA north of 7.00 and continued giving out free passes for
frequently than an ice cream man at the playground.
Looking to rekindle the arm that produced a 3.50 ERA in 192
innings during the 2018 season, Minnesota made a smart decision by nabbing him
on a non-roster deal. Given his big-league experience, the assumption should
have always been that the final rotation spot out of the gate was his to lose.
He’s been projected as such in each of my roster breakdowns in this space, but
it’s becoming ever harder to do so.
After his last outing Chacin has now totaled 8.0 IP in
Grapefruit League play for Minnesota. Although he does have a solid 8/2 K/BB,
he’s given up seven hits, plenty of hard contact, and six earned runs. To say
that hitters have rarely been fooled by his stuff would be accurate.
Obviously as a newly developed pitching institution, there’s
plenty of tweaks the Twins are working on with the Venezuelan. Between analytical
deep dives and scrapping of offerings, the goal has been to rekindle a career
under the tutelage of Wes Johnson and the infrastructure that Derek Falvey has
built. So far, the fruits of everyone’s labor have yet to produce anything
ripe.
We’re probably still too far out to call this race over, and
still with an option Dobnak is going to need to be head and shoulders above his
competition. Right now though, it’s inaccurate to call him anything but the
most productive candidate, and once again the taxi driver is weaving his way
through traffic.
