David

Festa

Festa struck out five and walked one. He might be sent down Friday, just because the Twins can make such a move, but he should be a factor in the postseason if the Twins advance. Alas, that seems quite unlikely at this point. Festa’s regular season ends at 2-6 with a 4.80 ERA and a fine 77/23 K/BB in 65 innings. He’s a definite sleeper for 2025.

The Twins had the bullpen getting ready in the fourth, but Festa managed to limit the Red Sox to one run then and got through the fifth without damage before departing a tie game. It’s his eighth straight start without a win, though that’s largely about the run support. He’s due to face the Mariners in his final regular-season start. The Twins will have an interesting decision to make between Festa, Simeon Woods Richardson and Zebby Matthews for the third and fourth spots in their postseason rotation, should they advance.

Irvin was designated for assignment yesterday after posting a 4.86 ERA in 16 starts and nine relief appearances on the season. The Twins could opt to use him in that same swingman role or perhaps insert him into the starting rotation with rookies David Festa and Zebby Matthews battling consistency issues. We’ll need to see how this pans out over the next few days. Randy Dobnak was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Irvin.

This is the second straight start where Festa has failed to deliver against a mediocre offense. The rookie posted just a 19 percent whiff rate and 18 percent CSW while striking out four and walking three. There is plenty of talent here, but Festa has been incredibly inconsistent in his rookie season, which makes him hard to trust next week in Fenway Park against the Red Sox.

Festa allowed four hits and struck out four in his four innings of four-run baseball. That’s a lot of fours, and typically those aren’t numbers starting pitchers want to see. He also walked three. Festa was solid against the Rays in his last outing. This wasn’t such a solid one, if we’re being relatively blunt. Festa is a risky option against the Reds over the weekend; scheduled for Sunday.

Festa followed up the best start of his MLB career with another strong effort, inducing 16 whiffs on 46 swings for a 35 percent whiff rate and 29 percent CSW. The 24-year-old didn’t allow a single extra-base hit on the day but allowed two runs on three hits and a walk in the fourth inning, which would be the difference in the game. Festa will now take a 4.75 ERA into a tremendous start against the Angels.

Festa was completely dialed-in here. This was the first time he’s completed six innings in the majors and looked outstanding over those six innings. However, Rocco Baldelli tried to push him into the seventh where he walked Marcell Ozuna - his first walk allowed in the game - to start the inning. It was a tough, seven-pitch at-bat where Ozuna took some very, very close pitches. Festa was then pulled and Caleb Thielbar immediately allowed an RBI double to Matt Olson, putting Festa on the hook. Nevertheless, Festa was awesome. Jorge Soler took him deep on a fastball in the first inning and Festa responded by heavily featuring his slider for the rest of the game. He threw it a career-high 47% of the time and it left Atlanta’s hitters flailing. He’s scheduled for a two-start week next, first in Tampa Bay and then in Kansas City.

Festa retired the first seven batters he faced tonight, but things unraveled quickly afterwards. That he’s been extremely successful at the beginning of his starts suggests that he might be of some help to the Twins as a reliever in September and the postseason. He’ll remain in the rotation for now, though.

Festa gave up six hits, walked none and struck out six. More of the same from Festa. He hasn’t pitched more than five innings in any of his seven starts, but he’s struck out at least six batters in five of those games. It’s probably not a recipe for winning a lot of games, but he’s a decent pitcher with strikeout stuff. The 24-year-old right-hander is set to face the Cardinals at home next week.

The rookie ran into trouble the second time through the batting order, allowing a home run, single, walk, forceout, and walk to load the bases with one out in the fourth inning before the Twins pulled him. If the Twins weren’t in playoff contention, they may have let Festa try to work himself out of the jam, but they quickly went to the bullpen in a game they wound up losing anyway. Festa struck out three and walked three while inducing seven whiffs on 30 swings for a 23 percent whiff rate and 31 percent CSW. The 24-year-old has clear upside, but the Twins usage of him and his inconsistency to date make him tough to trust next week against the Rangers.