Trevor Larnach and Randy Dobnak named 2019 Twins Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year

Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN—The Minnesota Twins announced today that outfielder Trevor Larnach has been named the 2019 Sherry Robertson Award winner as the Twins Minor League Player of the Year and right-handed pitcher Randy Dobnak has been named the 2019 Jim Rantz Award winner as the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Larnach, 22, split the season between Single-A Ft. Myers and Double-A Pensacola, combining to hit .309 (147-for-476) with 30 doubles, one triple, 13 home runs, 66 RBI and an .842 OPS in 127 games. The 6-foot-4, 223-pound outfielder was named Florida State League Most Valuable Player and named to both Florida State League midseason and postseason All-Star teams. He was FSL Player of the Week in early June and MiLB.com FSL Player of the Month in May. Prior to the season he was ranked as the fifth-best prospect in the Twins system by both Baseball America and MLB.com.

The Walnut Creek, California native was selected by the Twins in the first round (20th overall) of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of Oregon State University. In 169 career games in the Twins minor league system, he has hit .307 (193-for-628) with 43 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs, 92 RBI, 86 runs scored, 78 walks and an .853 OPS.

Dobnak, 24, split the 2019 season between Single-A Ft. Myers, Double-A Pensacola, Triple-A Rochester and Minnesota. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound pitcher went 12-4 with a 2.07 ERA (135.0 IP, 31 ER), 28 walks, 109 strikeouts, a 0.98 WHIP and a .212 opponent batting average in 24 games (21 starts) at three levels of the Twins minor league system this season. He was named International League Pitcher of the Week in late July. Dobnak had his contract selected by Minnesota in mid-August and has since posted a record of 2-1 with a 1.59 ERA (28.1 IP, 5 ER), five walks and 23 strikeouts in nine games (5 starts).

The South Park, Pennsylvania native was signed by the Twins as an undrafted free agent in July of 2017 and has gone 24-9 with a 2.57 ERA (297.1 IP, 85 ER), 60 walks and 216 strikeouts in 54 games (45 starts) through parts of three seasons in the Twins minor league system.

The Sherry Robertson Award, named in honor of the Twins’ first farm director, was established in 1970 to recognize the top Twins minor league performer each season. Since 2002, the award has recognized the Twins Minor League Player of the Year while an additional award has been created to recognize the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year. This award was named in honor of former Twins Minor League Director and Twins Hall of Famer Jim Rantz. Past winners of the Sherry Robertson Award include Butch Wynegar (1974), Kent Hrbek (1981), Gene Larkin (1986), Paul Sorrento (1989), Denny Neagle (1990), Marty Cordova (1992), LaTroy Hawkins (1993 and ’94), Todd Walker (1996), David Ortiz (1997), Michael Cuddyer (2001), Joe Mauer (2003), Brian Dozier (2011), Byron Buxton (2013), Max Kepler (2015), and Mitch Garver (2017). Past winners of the Jim Rantz award include Jesse Crain (2003), Scott Baker (2004), Francisco Liriano (2005), Matt Garza (2006), Kyle Gibson (2010), José Berríos (2014 and ’15), Stephen Gonsalves (2016), and Lewis Thorpe (2018).

Larnach and Dobnak, along with the other Twins 2019 award winners, will be recognized at the 15th Annual Diamond Awards dinner, which will be held on Thursday, January 23, 2020.