One Twins Pitching Prospect on the Rise

[Cody Christie]

Minnesota's much-touted pitching pipeline has provided dividends this year, but farm systems must continue to stockpile talent. One 2021 draft pick is already making his mark on the Twins system.

Minnesota selected David Festa in the 13th round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Seton Hall University. He posted a 3.49 ERA in three collegiate seasons with a 1.27 WHIP and 8.9 K/9. There were some positive signs from his junior year, where he posted career-best totals with a 2.00 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and two shutouts. He struck out 67 batters in 72 innings, but he showed positive strides toward being an effective pitcher. The Twins hoped to get Festa into the system and build on his collegiate improvements. 

Shortly after signing, Festa made his professional debut for the FCL Twins. In two starts, he was nearly unhittable as he struck out 8-of-16 batters he faced and didn't walk a batter. Minnesota promoted him to Fort Myers, where he allowed four earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. Festa was nearly a year younger than the average age of the competition at Low-A, and it was a small sample size.

The Twins sent Festa back to Fort Myers to start the 2022 season, and he was one of the best pitchers in the Florida State League. Through five starts, Festa had a 1.50 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP in 24 innings while striking out 33 and walking six. He was named the FSL Pitcher of the Week after pitching six no-hit innings with 11 strikeouts. Minnesota rewarded Festa's strong start to the season with a promotion to Cedar Rapids. 

On Sunday, Festa made his first appearance for the Kernels as Cedar Rapids scheduled him to follow Brent Headrick's start. He allowed one earned run on three hits with no walks and six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. The only run he allowed came in the ninth inning when his team was up by six runs. It was a tremendous High-A debut for a Twins pitcher putting himself on the Twins prospect map. 

Players drafted in the 13th round usually end up being organizational depth, but Festa is emerging as a legitimate top-30 prospect in the Twins organization. So far in 2022, batters are hitting .152/.208/.182 (.389) while striking out in nearly 40% of their at-bats. Festa has faced younger batters in two-thirds of his at-bats, but he has held them to a .334 OPS. Now that he is at High-A, he is over a year younger than the average age of the competition, so he will start facing older competition on a more regular basis. 

Festa has struck out more than 12 batters per nine innings throughout his professional career. Baseball America didn't rank Festa among the Top-30 Twins prospects entering the 2022 season, but they recently updated their list, and he is now ranked 29th. If he continues to perform this well, it's clear that Festa will establish himself as a pitching prospect to keep an eye on in the years to come. 

What has impressed you most about Festa so far? Do you think he should be ranked higher in the Twins system? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

 

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[RJA]

Festa definitely looks like another one to watch closely.  I think he was in 93-94 mph range in college, so he has added some giddy-up to his fastball.  I know he has a good change up to complement the fastball.  Do you know if he has improved his slider, Cody?  If he has even a decent slider, he could be a weapon in the bullpen sooner than later.

[Dman]

IIRC he pitched pretty well in college and he was a pitcher that looked to have projection left in that he hadn't really filled out his body yet.  Looks like the Twins got this one right as he is already throwing mid to high 90's.  Not sure what work was done on the secondary's but given the K rate those must have ticked up as well.  Not often that you find a pitcher with this much potential so late in the draft.

Happy they are moving him along right away as it looks like we are going to need all the pitching help we can get ASAP.  High A should be a good test to see just how good he is right now.  Players take better at bats and have better contact skills and scouting reports should start to catch up to him as well.  Would be nice if he found his way to AA at the end of the season.  Might be tough to get that far though with Headrick and SGL already looking elite at that level.  We'll know more in the next month or two.

[Doctor Gast]

I think he's rated right but has the potential to continue to rise up the ranks.

[dougd]

BPro liked his statcast data back when he was in Florida State League (as well as Raya).

[4twinsJA]

Seth did nice interview with Festa last year. What I liked was he did not start pitching until senior year of HS, limited mileage on his arm. He was not a kid that been pitching since Little League and been overused at a young age. Nice Twins are being relatively aggressive with moving him up.

[Aichiman]

I like Festa much better than the over-hyped spin master, Mr. Enlow!