The Minnesota Twins placed starting pitcher Chris Paddack on the disabled list on Wednesday, after he nearly begged for a rest during a post-game press conference.
Initially, the Twins called up right-handed pitcher Ronny Henriquez, a 24-year-old relief pitcher who is enjoying a very good season at triple-A St. Paul, but who is not among the organization’s top-30 prospects, according to MLB.com, and is clearly not a starter.
Minnesota Twins call up David Festa.
On Tuesday night, rumours circulated that the Minnesota Twins were considering bringing up top pitching prospect David Festa, a 6’6″ right-handed starter with the highest strikeout rate in the minors.
Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune reported Festa’s call up late Wednesday morning. He’ll make his major league debut on Thursday as the Minnesota Twins’ starter against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
David Festa is the Twins’ top pitching prospect and the No. 5 overall prospect in the organization. MLB.com now ranks him as baseball’s No. 99 overall prospect. Festa has 59.2 innings pitched for the Triple A St. Paul Saints in 14 games in 2024, with a 3.77 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. He’s struck out 87 batters and given up 24 walks.
What should Minnesota Twins fans expect from David Festa?
Festa (also 24 years old) was the Twins’ 2021 13th round draft pick (number 399 overall). He grew up in Verona, New Jersey, and attended Seton Hall University. This youngster has the stuff to be a top-rotation starter in the MLB, with a 95-97 MPH fastball, a high spin rate slider (87 MPH), and a mid-80s changeup that serves as a decent counter to his strikeout slider.
At his age, Festa isn’t coming up to demonstrate his future potential; he’s coming up to try to earn a spot in the rotation. Unfortunately for David, he has options but Chris Paddack does not.
Unless anything else happens in the Twins rotation, I expect Festa to return to St. Paul once Paddack’s recovery period is up, regardless of how good he throws. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. But first, let us hope that we are addressing the “very good to have” issue and then criticize from there.
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