Continuing on in my offseason series working through each of the Twins top 30 prospects in the org and reviewing their 2022 season. If you want to get caught up on what we’ve already covered, here are links to prior episodes:
1. [Brooks Lee (#1)](https://www.reddit.com/r/minnesotatwins/comments/y1j98g/2022_twins_top_prospect_season_recaps_episode_1/)
2. [Blayne Enlow (#25)](https://www.reddit.com/r/minnesotatwins/comments/y3yqq1/2022_twins_top_prospect_recaps_episode_2_blayne/)
3. [Jose Rodriguez (#21)](https://www.reddit.com/r/minnesotatwins/comments/y5tkh8/2022_twins_top_prospect_recaps_episode_3_jose/)
4. [Aaron Sabato (#26)](https://www.reddit.com/r/minnesotatwins/comments/y6czfi/2022_twins_top_prospect_recaps_episode_4_aaron/)
5. [Matt Canterino (#9)](https://www.reddit.com/r/minnesotatwins/comments/y78ius/2022_twins_top_prospect_recaps_episode_5_matt/)
Up next is the Twins #11 overall prospect, David Festa.
# A refresher
Festa is a big, 6’6”, 22 year old right handed pitcher out of Seton Hall. He was drafted by the Twins in the 13th round of the 2021 draft, and this was his second year in the organization. Here’s how his tools score per MLB Pipeline’s scouting report:
Tool | Grade
:– | :–
Fastball | 60
Slider | 50
Changeup | 45
Control | 50
Overall | 45
# 2022 stats
Level | W | L | ERA | G | GS | IP | H | ER | BB | K | WHIP
:– | :– | :– | :– | :– | :– | :– | :– | :– | :– | :– | :–
A | 2 | 1 | 1.50 | 5 | 5 | 24.0 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 33 | 0.750
A+ | 7 | 3 | 2.71 | 16 | 13 | 79.2 | 67 | 24 | 28 | 75 | 1.192
Total | 9 | 4 | 2.43 | 21 | 18 | 103.2 | 79 | 28 | 34 | 108 | 1.090
# The recap
2022 is technically Festa’s second year in the minors, but his first year was just a very brief 8 innings after being drafted in 2021, so we’ll use a little bit of freedom and call 2022 Festa’s first true season of professional baseball. The Twins started him off in Fort Myers at A ball, where Festa pitched quite well. He opened his season with 5 innings of shutout ball, and a few starts later, capped off his stay at the A level with an absolute gem, throwing 6 no hit innings with 11 strikeouts, being the first pitcher of 3 on the mound as Fort Myers threw a combined no hitter. Festa was promoted up a level to A+ after that start. In total, Festa gave up 4 runs over 5 starts in A ball (1.50 ERA), including 3 scoreless outings, while striking out 33 over 24 innings.
Festa was able to continue his success up a level at A+. After two extended appearances in relief, he would make 14 starts in the remainder of the year, giving up 22 ER over 71 innings for a 2.79 ERA. His strikeout rate dipped slightly, punching out 66 over that span, but that’s more of a return to the norm for him than a concern. Festa topped off his season in style, closing out his 2022 campaign with a dominant 6 shutout innings with 10 strikeouts, no walks, and just 2 hits for Cedar Rapids in their opening game of the playoffs. The team would unfortunately waste Festa’s stellar outing, ultimately losing 2-1, but it was a wonderful performance from Festa and a great way to cap his first full season of professional ball. All in all, we really couldn’t have asked anything more out of Festa. He seems very deserving of the award for breakout prospect of the year.
# Looking forward
I could see Festa being sent back to A+ to start 2023, but I also think there’s a slight chance he gets bumped up to AA. But A+ is probably more likely, with eyes on an early to mid-season promotion if all goes well, potentially setting up for a debut sometime in 2024.
The main area that jumps out to me as needing improvement is cutting down on Festa’s walk rate. In college, Festa averaged over 4 walks per 9 innings, which is extremely high. He has already brought that down to just over 3 BB/9 in his first 112 innings in the minor leagues, which is a great first step, but still needs to come down even further. For a little bit of context, only 5 qualified SPs in the majors averaged 3+ BB/9 this year, so that walk rate would have been among the league’s worst. He is trending the right way, though, so just needs to continue on that trajectory.
I’ll also be watching Festa’s K rate. He’s historically not much more than a strikeout per inning guy, so it’s not a red flag to me that his K/9 was only 8.5 at A+ this year. But I think there is room to grow here. Reports are that he’s added several ticks to his fastball since being drafted, now topping out at 99 (though rumors are he hit 101 in his playoff start!), and has a hard, high spin rate slider as well. Both grade as plus pitches, and a pitcher with those kinds of tools seems like they should be able to rack up the whiffs. We’ve also already seen a few high strikeout games from Festa, so this development may be happening right in front of our eyes. Festa does has room to grow with his changeup, which currently grades as about average. Coaxing further development out of that and having a repertoire of 3 plus pitches would, of course, pay dividends in all facets of his game.
Overall, Festa still has a few areas to work on, but he’s been a pleasant surprise and a really nice find out of the 13th round of the draft. There’s definitely some good potential here, and a good showing in 2023 would help offset the hit to the system of Canterino as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery. Festa has absolutely exploded this year and showcased himself as an exciting young pitcher to watch, and another good season from him next year could give him a claim for best pitching prospect in the organization.
# Highlights/film room
* [6 no hit innings starts combined no hitter](https://youtu.be/MRFk02fNAKA?t=205). Couldn’t find game film of this outing, unfortunately, but Tom has a few good tidbits from the game
* [Gives up a single, then picks off the runner. Gives up another single, then picks off the runner again. Then, gives up a third single, then picks of a third runner! All in consecutive at bats](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeawjCp1WHQ&ab_channel=BoostedB17)
* [Dominant postseason outing, striking out 11 in 6 shutout innings](https://youtu.be/aAJ66-IIqGY?t=68)
# Card corner
No Twins cards yet! As a 13th rounder, it probably will take another strong year in the minors for Topps to catch wind of him, so we may have to wait until 2024 to get any cards of him.
