David Festa is one of a handful of Twins’ pitching draft success stories. Although fans may disagree regarding how effective or promising Festa is, taking a player in the 13th round and turning him into an MLB pitcher at all is a success.
Festa rose quickly through the Twins system, racing through both levels of Class A in 2022, then Double-A and Triple-A in 2023 after being an unheralded 2021 draft pick. At the time of his call-up to the majors in 2024, he was a top five organizational prospect and was appearing on global Top 100 lists. There was a lot of hope that he could help restock the rotation after the departures of Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda.
And there still are Festa fanatics today. It’s not like he’s been a disappointment. It’s been rocky for the greenhorn, with a 5.12 ERA (83 ERA+) for the Twins across 117 2/3 innings in 2024 and 2025, but he’s shown flashes that can excite. He has three usable pitches—a plus four seamer that can reach the high-90s but sits 95, a plus slider, and a serviceable changeup. He has also attempted to add a sinker to diversify his pitch mix, though it’s more of a show-me offering that’s gotten hit hard and doesn’t grade well.
There is legitimate reason to remain excited, or at least hopeful for Festa as a starter. As noted, he’s not been a disaster and he has less than a full season of MLB starting under his belt in sporadic action, as he’s yo-yoed several times between the Twins and St. Paul over the past two years.
However, he has some factors working against his long-term outlook as a starter, including a couple of red flags that threaten THIS GUY IS A RELIEVER stamp.
First, Festa has struggled to pitch deep into games with any regularity. Now, this isn’t some anomaly. Pitchers getting their first taste of the majors aren’t given free rein to rack up innings. They’re generally guided along, only biting off a bit of the game at a time. Festa himself is only averaging about four and two-thirds innings per start, completing a full five innings in thirteen of his twenty-five big league starts. Again, that’s not some travesty for a guy with 25 big league starts, but there’s more.
Part of the reason is that Festa only makes it through five innings in about half of his starts. He struggles seeing offenses more than once. The first time through the order, Festa is excellent, holding hitters to a .498 OPS. The second time, though? A .909 OPS.
Some of this can be attributed to youth and inexperience navigating an MLB lineup, but some can be chalked up to a limited pitch mix. It’s hard to fool hitters twice or three times when you have three (and a half) options to get them out. Whatever the case, though, it’s been an issue, and it’s easy for any armchair stat line scout to point at that and say, “What if he didn’t have to face hitters a second time? It’s worked for Griffin Jax.”
The second factor is his arm health. Festa has thrown just 82 innings this season, having lost about two months to shoulder inflammation and arm fatigue. It’s not some death sentence on his starter outlook, but having two arm injuries in a year isn’t encouraging, especially injuries that seem to be from normal use (obviously, most injuries are from normal use, but you know what I mean).
When pitchers become relievers, it’s typically because they can’t rack up innings, either because of effectiveness or health, and Festa seems to be going down that path. Neither of these factors are damning at this point, but there are also a couple external factors that might expedite the process of the Twins altering course on Festa—and they’re related.
First, the team needs relievers. After trading away six of the projected top seven relief arms during the season (I didn’t forget you, Jorge Alcala), there are nothing but holes in the bullpen. Seemingly only Cole Sands and Justin Topa have a better than 50% chance of being in the 2026 pen. Pitchers who might otherwise have been on a starter trajectory might be heading out to the bullpen out of necessity.
That’s not necessarily a good thing. Starters are more valuable than relievers (see the Griffin Jax-Taj Bradley trade). Teams don’t want to give up on their starters. But hey, if it’s between that and spending $25 million on veteran free agent relievers, it’s hard not to at least consider it.
Second, the rotation is crowded right now. Trade can disrupt that, but right now Pablo López, Joe Ryan, and Bailey Ober are written into the rotation, Zebby Matthews seems an almost-lock, and the fifth spot will be between Festa, Simeon Woods Richardson, and newcomers Mick Abel and Bradley. Even after a trade, Festa may be on the outside looking in.
Granted, the Twins like to stockpile MLB-ready pitching depth at Triple-A, and Festa has been one of the first men up in both 2024 and 2025. But with all those names, plus a handful of other Triple-A names who could also step in if needed, Festa moving to the pen (and even one of the other names, too) would release a lot of pressure in the crowded room. Put another way, the Twins are in a position to sacrifice some depth if it helps their dilapidated pen.
And how would Festa be? Well, it’s hard to say. But he has some traits prevent the title of this article from being too hyperbolic. Obviously, as already mentioned, he’s been terrific the first time through the order. That alone is enough to start the wheel in your head. Why not see if that early-game success can translate into late-game success?
His three-pitch mix plays much better out of the pen, especially if he can hump it up for 20 pitches at a time. It’s not unreasonable to believe that his mid-90s fastball could transform into an offering that sits in the high 90s, and it would enable him to lean more into his wipeout slider and rely less on his average changeup and weak sinker.
There are always his control problems, but this is one of those cookie-cutter cases that baseball has seen time and time again. Next year will be his age-26 season, so it’s about time for the Twins to pick a lane with him, and it’s not unreasonable to expect that Festa might spend it pitching the late innings for your hometown nine.