Mets Sign Matt Festa To Minor League Deal

The Mets signed right-hander Matt Festa to a minor league contract, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Syracuse and actually made his team debut yesterday, tossing 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief while picking up a pair of strikeouts. Festa was granted his release from a minor league deal with the Padres last week and had a rather brief stay on the free-agent market.

The 31-year-old Festa has pitched in parts of four big league seasons, all coming with the Mariners. He’d spent his entire career in the Seattle organization prior to signing with San Diego in the offseason. Festa is a former seventh-round pick whose career has been slowed by injuries, most notably including 2020 Tommy John surgery. That wiped out his entire 2020 campaign and the bulk of his 2021 season as well.

Festa saw big league time in the two years prior to that surgery (2018-19) and the two years following the completion of his rehab (2022-23). In 93 2/3 innings, he has a career 4.32 earned run average with an above-average 25.3% strikeout rate and plus swinging-strike rates despite fairly pedestrian velocity. His 10.9% walk rate is also a couple percentage points above the league average, however.

Festa pitched fairly well with the Padres’ top affiliate in El Paso. He logged 16 innings and yielded eight runs, though a .360 average on balls in play didn’t do him any favors in that small sample. He fanned 21.6% of his opponents during that brief stay in the Padres organization and turned in a 9.5% walk rate. Yesterday’s outing with Syracuse brought Festa to a total of 110 Triple-A frames in his career. He’s been excellent at the top minor league level, notching a 2.13 ERA, 27.2% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate across parts of five seasons.

Even with Edwin Diaz struggling to a 5.50 ERA in his return from last year’s knee injury, the Mets still have one of the top bullpens in baseball. No team’s relievers have combined to post a higher strikeout rate than their 28.5% mark, and the Mets also sit sixth in reliever ERA (3.27), fourth in FIP (3.45) and fifth in SIERA (3.39). Command has been the bullpen’s primary flaw, as manager Carlos Mendoza’s relief corps has the third-highest walk rate in baseball at 11.8%.

The Mets have already used a whopping 17 relievers this season, showing no reluctance to shuffle up the few flexible spots in a veteran-laden bullpen. None of Diaz, Adam Ottavino, Jorge Lopez, Jake Diekman or Sean Reid-Foley can be optioned, and the same was true of southpaw Brooks Raley, who’s now facing a lengthy absence due to an elbow injury. Righty Reed Garrett has a minor league option left but has made himself indispensable and won’t be sent down anytime soon after posting a 0.72 ERA and 41% strikeout rate through a team-high 25 innings out of the ’pen.

The Mets have cycled Josh Walker, Grant Hartwig, Michael Tonkin, Yohan Ramirez, Tyler Jay, Danny Young, Cole Sulser, Dedniel Nunez and others through the final couple spots in the bullpen in an effort to keep a stable of fresh arms available for Mendoza. It’s possible Festa could join that growing line of arms riding the Mets’ bullpen carousel at some point, although he’s also out of minor league options, so if he’s added to the roster he’ll have to stick in the big leagues or else be designated for assignment.