Twins Acquire Garrett Acton
The Marlins announced that they have traded right-hander Garrett Acton to the Twins for minor league righty Logan Whitaker. Acton was designated for assignment by Miami a few days ago when they acquired infielder Leo Jiménez. Minnesota transferred righty David Festa to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding 40-man roster move.
Acton, 28 in June, has a very limited major league track record. He made six appearances for the Athletics in 2023 and then one more with the Rays last year, with Tommy John surgery wiping out his 2024. He has allowed eight earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. In the offseason, he went to the Rockies and then Marlins via waivers.
The Twins are surely more focused on his minor league track record, where he has shown intriguing strikeout stuff, though home run troubles have led to lot of runs crossing the plate. Dating back to the start of 2022, he has thrown 160 minor league innings, mostly at the Triple-A level. In that time, he has a 4.56 earned run average. His 10% walk rate was a bit high but he managed to strike out 29.5% of batters faced.
Acton still has a pair of options, meaning the Twins can send him to the minors for some extra bullpen depth or add him immediately to the active roster. In either case, he may shuttle between the majors and minors throughout the season whenever the Twins need to freshen up the relief corps.
For the Marlins, they just claimed Acton off waivers two months ago. They are presumably happy with that sequence of events, which has netted them Whitaker. Minnesota took Whitaker with a 19th-round pick in 2024. Last year, he tossed 38 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A. His 2.11 ERA in 2025 looks good but he only punched out a pedestrian 21% of batters faced. His 6.4% walk rate and 44.5% ground ball rate were a bit better than average. He seemed to get some help from a 78.9% strand rate. He doesn’t really show up on prospect lists but, as mentioned, Miami should be pleased to get a lottery ticket prospect for a guy they just grabbed from the waiver wire two months ago.
As for Festa, he was injured in February and began the season on the 15-day injured list. The Twins listed his injury as a triceps strain and shoulder impingement. His current timeline is unclear but this transaction indicates the Twins don’t expect him back before late May, which would be 60 days from his initial IL placement.
That doesn’t necessarily indicate bad news about his recovery. Even if he were declared healthy today, since he missed all of spring training, he would effectively have to start ramping up from scratch. The Twins should provide more details about his status in the future.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Twins Designate Alex Jackson For Assignment
The Twins announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Cody Laweryson and opened a spot on the 40-man roster by designating catcher Alex Jackson for assignment. They’d been shopping the out-of-options Jackson in recent days but didn’t find a taker. They can continue to explore trades for five days before they’ll have to place him on waivers. Minnesota also placed righties Travis Adams and David Festa on the 15-day IL due to a triceps strain and shoulder impingement, respectively.
Jackson, 30, came over from the Orioles in a November trade sending minor league infielder Payton Eeles to Baltimore. At the time, the Twins’ ownership situation was somewhat in flux, leaving the front office uncertain as to what sort of budget they’d have throughout the winter. Jackson was acquired and signed to a $1.35MM deal, avoiding arbitration and giving the Twins a glove-first backup catcher with some power but immense strikeout and OBP concerns.
The Twins eventually introduced a trio of new minority stakeholders and shuffled up the ownership hierarchy, with Tom Pohlad stepping in as the new control person in place of his younger brother, Joe. That shift came with the apparent green light for some modest investments in free agency, which led to Minnesota signing Victor Caratini on a two-year deal. Caratini became the new backup to starting catcher Ryan Jeffers, leaving Jackson with no path to a 26-man roster spot. Since he can’t be optioned, he’s been designated for assignment and will spend up to a week in limbo waiting to learn his next steps.
Jackson was once a top-10 draft pick and ballyhooed top prospect, but he’s never found his stride in the majors. He’s taken 440 plate appearances dating back to his 2019 MLB debut but mustered only a .153/.239/.288 slash. He’s slugged 11 homers but fallen victim to a strikeout in a disastrous 40.7% of his plate appearances. Jackson draws good marks for his pitch framing and throwing, but his anemic offensive profile makes him better suited to be a third or fourth catcher on any team’s depth chart.
It’s possible he’ll stick with Minnesota in just that role. Jackson’s lack of production, lack of minor league options and $1.35MM salary create a good chance that he’ll pass through waivers unclaimed. He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment to the minors but not enough service to do so while retaining his guaranteed salary. As such, if he clears, he’ll surely accept an assignment to Triple-A and open the season over in St. Paul.
Laweryson, 27, made his big league debut with the Twins last season. He held opponents to a run on four hits and no walks with seven punchouts — a nice follow-up to the 2.86 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate he logged across 44 Triple-A innings. The Twins tried to pass him through waivers in the offseason, only for the Angels to claim him.
The Halos designated Laweryson for assignment in February and released him, at which point he returned to the Twins on a minor league pact. He’s allowed one run on five hits and a walk with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 spring innings.
Twins Option Zebby Matthews, Finalize Rotation Plans
The Twins announced Friday that they’ve optioned right-hander Zebby Matthews to Triple-A St. Paul. They didn’t formally say it, but that effectively sets Minnesota’s rotation heading into the season, barring a late injury or trade.
Minnesota did, however, formally name Joe Ryan the Opening Day starter today. That was a foregone conclusion after Pablo López was lost for the season due to UCL surgery early in camp. Right-handers Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson were more or less locks entering spring training. Ober had a rough stretch last summer while trying to pitch through a hip injury but has been a steady third/fourth starter in Minnesota for several seasons otherwise. Woods Richardson has been up and down between Minneapolis and St. Paul over the past two seasons but had a strong finish in ’25 and is out of minor league options.
The rest of the rotation looked less certain following López’s injury. Matthews and fellow righties David Festa, Taj Bradley and Mick Abel were vying for the final two spots. All four were ranked as top-100 prospects prior to their major league debuts, but none has fully solidified himself in the majors yet. Festa went down early with a shoulder injury that isn’t expected to necessitate a long-term absence but will send him to the injured list to begin the season. Matthews, Bradley and Abel were in a three-man competition for the final two rotation spots. With Matthews now optioned, it’ll be Bradley and Abel rounding out the staff.
Bradley came over from the Rays in exchange for Griffin Jax just minutes before the trade deadline last summer. He’s had some success at times in the majors but lacked consistency. However, he’s celebrating his 25th birthday today, so he’s plenty young and still has four seasons of club control remaining. Bradley has had a good spring showing. His 4.50 ERA in 14 frames is unremarkable, but he’s punched out a huge 32.2% of opponents against a solid 8.5% walk rate. His fastball velocity is up nearly a mile per hour this spring, sitting at an average of 96.9 mph, and he’s sporting an above-average 12.5% swinging-strike rate.
Abel, 24, is another deadline pickup for Minnesota. He came to the Twins from the Phillies in last July’s Jhoan Duran swap. Abel is a former first-round pick who for years ranked as a top-100 prospect. He was leapfrogged in the Phillies’ system by Andrew Painter, and a shaky 2024 season in the minors caused Abel to fall off of national prospect rankings. He bounced back in a big way in Triple-A last year, posting a pristine 2.20 ERA, 28.6% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate in 98 1/3 innings. The 6’5″ righty matched that production through his first four MLB starts with the Phillies but struggled thereafter, allowing nine runs in his next 4 2/3 innings before being shipped to Minnesota.
Abel has looked dominant this spring. In 18 innings, he’s held opponents to a flat 2.00 ERA with a 34.8% strikeout rate against just a 4.5% walk rate and kept 53.8% of batted balls against him on the ground. In this spring’s small sample, Abel has upped the usage of his slider and changeup while scaling back how frequently he uses his two-seamer. The results, clearly, have been quite strong.
Matthews, 25, has pitched in parts of two seasons with the Twins already. He’s logged very good strikeout and walk rates (24.7%, 6.6% respectively) but been far too susceptible to home runs. He’s a pronounced fly-ball pitcher who has seen nearly 15% of his fly-balls leave the yard; that’s led to an average of 1.77 homers per nine innings pitched.
Matthews sat better than 96 mph with his heater last season, pairing it with a plus slider and plus command. He’s yet to find an average third offering, as his changeup has been hit hard. If he can dial in a third pitch to help keep lefties off balance, he could yet emerge as a mid-rotation starter. Righties are flummoxed by that slider, but lefty hitters have turned in a huge .316/.372/.572 slash against him in the majors. Obviously, that won’t cut it.
The Twins will send Matthews to Triple-A to continue working on rounding out his arsenal. It’s possible that he and/or Festa could eventually emerge as bullpen options, particularly if Bradley and Abel can carry their spring performances into the regular season. The Twins have a number of interesting upper-level arms on the cusp of MLB readiness beyond that pair, including Kendry Rojas, Andrew Morris, Dasan Hill, Marco Raya (who’s moving to the bullpen full-time this season) and top prospect Connor Prielipp.
Twins’ David Festa Likely To Begin Season On Injured List
The hits for the Twins’ rotation keep coming. Right-hander David Festa, who entered camp hopeful of securing a spot on the starting staff, has been diagnosed with a shoulder impingement and will be shut down from throwing for at least two to three weeks, per Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune. He’s received an injection and is likely to open the season on the 15-day injured list.
Since camp opened just two weeks ago, Minnesota has lost Pablo López for the entire season (internal brace surgery) and seen No. 2 starter Joe Ryan slowed by inflammation in his lower back. Ryan has already resumed throwing, but what looked like a quietly crowded Twins’ rotation mix has begun to thin out rather quickly.
Assuming Ryan’s back issue proves minor, the Twins will enter the season with him and right-hander Bailey Ober locked into spots. Righty Simeon Woods Richardson is out of minor league options and pitched well down the stretch in 2025, so he’s likely to grab a third spot. Festa had been competing with homegrown righty Zebby Matthews and 2025 trade acquisitions Taj Bradley (acquired for Griffin Jax) and Mick Abel (acquired for Jhoan Duran) for spots at the back of the group. All four were top-100 prospects in the game prior to their respective debuts.
For now, the competition for those two remaining spots appears to have been whittled down to three (Matthews, Bradley, Abel). There are some longshot options in camp, like southpaw prospects Connor Prielipp and Kendry Rojas, as well as righty Andrew Morris. All three are on the 40-man roster, but no one from that trio has made his big league debut yet. Prielipp and Rojas have barely pitched in Triple-A.
Festa’s injury is the latest health-related setback in the lanky righty’s development. The 2021 13th-rounder has had the look of a late-round steal thanks to terrific strikeout and run-prevention numbers as he climbed through the minors, but he’s now been slowed by two different injuries within the same shoulder over the past year. Festa has started 25 career games in Triple-A, pitching to a 3.46 ERA with a 33.2% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate and a swinging-strike rate north of 16%. He’s had some nice starts in the majors but lacked consistency, working to an overall 5.12 ERA in 117 2/3 frames dating back to his 2024 debut.
With injuries mounting for the Twins’ staff, it’ll be telling to see whether they look outside the organization. New executive chair Tom Pohlad, who took that post from younger brother Joe when the Twins introduced a trio of new minority owners in December, has said since assuming that new position that the Twins “want to be aggressive” and believe they can compete despite last summer’s July sell-off. Pohlad publicly confirmed that his club made a run at Framber Valdez before he signed in Detroit, hoping to capitalize on the opportunity presented by Valdez lingering on the market.
None of the remaining starters in free agency — Lucas Giolito, Zack Littell, Tyler Anderson among them — can match Valdez’s output, but someone like Giolito or Littell would at least give the Twins some credible mid-rotation innings to help offset the loss of López and provide insurance while Ryan and Festa deal with what will hopefully prove to be relatively minor injury issues. The Twins’ payroll currently projects to come in about $30MM shy of last year’s levels and around $50MM shy of its 2023 peak. That, coupled with their purported interest in Valdez, certainly suggests that there’s room in the budget for another established arm.
Turning back to Festa specifically, it’s a frustrating setback for the lanky 6’6″, 185-pound righty, but there’s no immediate indication that it could be a long-term issue. He enters the 2026 season with 1.052 years of big league service and a pair of minor league option years remaining. The Twins control the 25-year-old for at least five more years. If a rotation role doesn’t work out, Festa’s 94.5 mph heater and above-average slider and changeup could all play up in a relief role. Minnesota’s bullpen looks even more uncertain than the rotation and will need several young, unproven contributors to seize key roles in order to avoid being one of the weakest groups in the sport (barring some late veteran signings).
Falvey: Pablo Lopez, David Festa Expected To Be Ready For 2026
Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey recently shared some positive health updates for right-handers Pablo Lopez and David Festa. Falvey told Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic that Lopez is fully healthy and is expected to have a normal offseason. He added that Festa should start throwing soon and is expected to be good to go by spring training.
Lopez hit the 15-day injured list in late September with a right forearm strain. Even at the time, the injury was believed to be mild enough that Lopez could’ve avoided the IL if Minnesota were still in the mix for a playoff spot. Falvey’s statement further supports that notion. It seems the issue will have minimal impact on Lopez going forward, though it was only one of several injuries Lopez dealt with this past season.
The right-hander first hit the IL just three starts into the season with a hamstring strain. He came back near the end of April, only to go down again in early June with a shoulder strain. The shoulder injury resulted in a trip to the 60-day IL and cost Lopez all of July and August. The various maladies capped Lopez at 14 starts, his fewest in a 162-game season since his rookie year back in 2018.
Lopez pitched well when available with a 2.74 ERA across 75 2/3 innings. Lopez allowed two earned runs or fewer in a dozen of his outings. The underlying metrics on his arsenal declined, however, potentially as a result of the start-and-stop nature of his season. Lopez recorded a 23.4% strikeout rate, his worst mark since 2019. He finished with a career-low 93 Stuff+. The Twins are surely hoping that a full offseason to regain his form will help him bounce back in the strikeout department next season.
At the very least, that’s what they’ll be pitching to potential trade partners this winter. Lopez’s clean bill of health figures to make him a more viable trade candidate this offseason than he was during Minnesota’s fire sale at the Trade Deadline. He’s entering the third year of the four-year, $73.5MM extension he signed with Minnesota in 2024. The two years and $43MM left on that deal would be a bargain if Lopez can maintain his status as a #2 starter, and that should make him very attractive to any team who thinks his injuries (and a somewhat middling 2024 campaign) are behind him.
As for Festa, the right-hander is entering his age-26 season next year. He’s pitched to a 5.12 ERA with a 4.27 FIP to this point in his career at the big league level, though that comes in a sample size of just 117 2/3 innings across the 2024 and ’25 seasons. With the Twins having kicked off what looks to be a near complete rebuild over the summer, Festa figures to enter Spring Training with the opportunity to compete for a spot in the starting rotation alongside other young arms like Zebby Matthews, Taj Bradley, and Mick Abel. How many spots will be available to those young arms depends on how aggressive the Twins are in marketing some of their more veteran starters, like Lopez and fellow righty Joe Ryan, throughout the coming winter.
David Festa Dealing With Compressed Nerve Injury
September 12th: Festa tells Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune that his issue is related to a compressed nerve and not typical thoracic outlet syndrome symptoms. He expects to be fine for spring training.
September 10th: Twins right-hander David Festa has been on the injured list since late July due to shoulder inflammation. Head trainer Nick Paparesta tells Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that noted surgeon Dr. Keith Meister believes Festa has neurological thoracic outlet syndrome. Festa is going to see another doctor and a formal plan will be mapped out after that.
It’s a potentially ominous diagnosis as thoracic outlet syndrome can significantly alter the course of a pitcher’s career. Back in 2023, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post did a thorough examination of the condition, noting that there are two distinct varieties.
One type is known as venous or vascular TOS. While this is a serious medical condition often involving life-threatening blood clots, it seems to have less long-term impacts in terms of throwing a baseball. Merrill Kelly is the poster boy for recovering from this type of TOS surgery. Kelly went under the knife in 2020 but has since made 132 starts with a 3.59 earned run average. Zack Wheeler of the Phillies recently had a blood clot removed and was recommended for venous TOS surgery.
The second type of TOS is neurogenic, which seems to have a larger impact on throwing ability. Paparesta used the word “neurological” to describe Festa’s TOS, but it’s possible he meant neurogenic. Stephen Strasburg, Chris Archer and Matt Harvey are some of the most famous example of pitchers who were diagnosed with neurogenic TOS and never really seemed to be the same.
Strasburg was one of the best pitchers over the previous decade. He capped things off with an excellent 2019 season. He gave the Nationals 209 innings that year with a 3.32 ERA. He then added another 36 1/3 innings in the postseason with a 1.98 ERA, leading the Nats to a World Series title, winning himself World Series MVP in the process. But nerve issues popped up after that. He underwent TOS surgery in 2021. His repeated attempts to get back on the mound didn’t work. He only made eight appearances after the 2019 season and eventually retired.
Archer tossed 882 1/3 innings over the 2015 to 2019 seasons with a 4.05 ERA and 27.8% strikeout rate. He underwent TOS surgery in 2020. After that, he logged 122 innings with a 4.57 ERA and 20.2% strikeout rate. Harvey had a 2.53 ERA and 26.6% strikeout rate through his first 427 innings but then had TOS surgery in 2016. In the final 446 2/3 innings of his career, he had a 6.15 ERA and 17% strikeout rate.
Festa entered 2024 as one of the top prospects in the league. He made his major league debut last year, tossing 64 1/3 innings for the Twins. His 4.90 ERA wasn’t especially impressive but he struck out 27.8% of batters faced with an 8.3% walk rate.
This year, he has been shuttled back and forth between the majors and minors. He missed much of May, while on optional assignment, due to biceps inflammation. He was placed on the major league IL in July due to shoulder inflammation. Around those transactions and injuries, he has made 11 big league appearances with a 5.40 ERA but decent strikeout and walk rates of 23.1% and 8.3% respectively. He also posted a 2.59 ERA in seven Triple-A starts.
It was reported earlier this month that Festa had a setback and would not be returning this year, with the next step being a visit to Dr. Meister. Further information on Festa’s status will undoubtedly be coming out in the future. He has not yet been moved to the 60-day IL as the Twins only have 37 guys on their 40-man roster. If they fill those spots in the remainder of the season, Festa could eventually be moved to the 60-day IL to open another.
The Minnesota rotation has changed shape in recent months. The club fell in the standings and pivoted to sell mode. They sent out impending free agent Chris Paddack but also brought in young, controllable guys like Taj Bradley and Mick Abel, as well as prospect Kendry Rojas. Some have speculated that they will continue selling this winter, including making guys like Pablo López or Joe Ryan available. Time will tell whether that’s a realistic possibility or not. For now, the 2026 rotation mix includes those guys as well as Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson and Zebby Matthews.
Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
Twins’ David Festa Suffers Season-Ending Shoulder Injury
Twins starter David Festa is done for the season after suffering a setback while working back from a shoulder injury, relays Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star-Tribune. Festa is headed for a consultation with noted orthopedist Dr. Keith Meister.
The 25-year-old Festa has been out since the middle of July. Minnesota sent him to Triple-A St. Paul for a rehab start on August 28. Festa struck out five over 2 2/3 scoreless innings. It seems he came out of the appearance with renewed shoulder pain. That’ll shut him down for the year. The Twins will hope there’s nothing structurally amiss that’ll impact his availability for 2026.
Festa is in his second big league season. He has missed bats at an above-average rate but given up a few too many home runs, contributing to a 5.12 ERA through his first 25 appearances. Festa surrendered 5.40 earned runs per nine across 53 1/3 frames this year. The 6’6″ righty was one of Minnesota’s better pitching prospects before his debut. He’s one of a handful of mid-20s pitchers whom the Twins hope will be long-term rotation pieces.
Zebby Matthews, Simeon Woods Richardson and deadline acquisition Taj Bradley are in the current starting five. Mick Abel, acquired from Philadelphia in the Jhoan Duran deal, has been hit hard in his first two appearances as a Twin and was optioned back to Triple-A yesterday. Festa is on the 15-day injured list, so the Twins can transfer him to the 60-day IL if they need to open a 40-man roster spot before the end of the season. He crossed the one-year service line this season and is under club control through at least 2030.
Pablo Lopez To Miss Multiple Months With Teres Major Strain
June 5: The Twins formally placed Lopez on the injured list and recalled Festa today, per a club announcement.
June 4: The Twins announced that Pablo López suffered a Grade 2 strain of the teres major in his throwing shoulder. He’s expected to miss eight to 12 weeks. He’ll be shut down from throwing entirely for at least a month before he goes for reevaluation.
López left last night’s start against the A’s after five innings. He reported shoulder discomfort while throwing his warm-up pitches in advance of the sixth. The Twins immediately acknowledged that an injured list stint was inevitable. They were awaiting the results of today’s imaging before making that move. It’s unfortunately significant enough that it’ll cost him the majority of the remaining schedule.
This is the same injury and degree of strain which rotation mate Joe Ryan sustained last August. Ryan went down early in the month and missed the remainder of the season. It didn’t carry into the offseason, and he has returned as strong as ever this year. That’s a source of long-term optimism for López, but it doesn’t change the significant hit to the rotation over the next few months.
It’s the righty’s second, and far more notable, IL stint this year. López had a minimal absence in April due to a hamstring strain. The injuries have interrupted a characteristically strong performance. He sports a 2.82 earned run average across 60 2/3 frames. It would have been his first career sub-3.00 showing if he maintained it all year. He has fanned nearly a quarter of opponents while allowing two or fewer runs in nine of his 11 appearances.
Minnesota has one of the top rotations in the league. They’re fifth in MLB with a 3.43 ERA while ranking eighth with a 23.2% strikeout rate. López, Ryan, Bailey Ober and Chris Paddack have all performed well. The final spot has been the only weak point. Simeon Woods Richardson was optioned out after allowing more than five earned runs per nine. Zebby Matthews replaced him in the rotation last month. He made his fourth start of the season tonight and carries a 5.21 ERA over 19 innings. He’s missing plenty of bats, though, so he’s a more exciting fifth starter than Woods Richardson has been.
David Festa will get the first crack at plugging López’s rotation spot. He was scratched from a start at Triple-A St. Paul this evening, as first noted by Declan Goff of SKOR North. Festa traveled to Sacramento to meet the big league team. Dan Hayes of The Athletic writes that he will likely go in tomorrow’s series finale to give the rest of the starters an extra day of rest.
The 25-year-old Festa ranked as one of the sport’s better pitching prospects when he was promoted last summer. He allowed a 4.90 ERA over his first 14 MLB appearances. He made a trio of starts early in the season while López was sidelined by the hamstring. Festa managed an impressive 15:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio while allowing only three runs through 13 innings. He has pitched well through six Triple-A starts, turning in a 2.83 mark with a near-31% strikeout rate. Hayes notes that he was sidelined for much of May by biceps inflammation, but he has looked sharp in two appearances since returning. He fired five scoreless frames with five strikeouts in his most recent start.
Festa is a high-upside injury replacement. Woods Richardson remains on optional assignment as a depth arm. The rotation depth is a silver lining, but it’s fair to wonder how this impacts the team’s deadline approach. López won’t be back at least into August and could be shelved into September. The Twins are in the thick of a congested AL Wild Card race and six games behind the Tigers in the division.
Twins Option Simeon Woods Richardson, Likely To Promote Zebby Matthews
1:08pm: The Twins are planning to recall Matthews for what’ll be his first major league look this season, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. He’ll likely get the ball for Sunday’s series finale. Nightengale adds an ominous note that Festa’s last start was skipped over due to arm fatigue, although the promising righty is slated to start Saturday’s Triple-A game.
10:21am: The Twins optioned righty Simeon Woods Richardson to Triple-A St. Paul following yesterday’s tough start, per the team. Left-handed reliever Kody Funderburk, who’d been with the team as the 27th man in Minnesota’s doubleheader versus the Orioles, will stay in the big league roster in his place.
Woods Richardson has been a constant in the Twins’ rotation dating back to last April. He’s been solid on the whole, working to a 4.36 ERA with a 20.7% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate across 171 1/3 innings, but his recent work has been lackluster. Woods Richardson has lasted fewer than five innings in four of his past five starts. He pitched into the sixth inning and held the Angels to one run back on April 26, but that’s the only time in the past month he’s completed five frames.
The three most recent starts for Woods Richardson have been particularly problematic. Beyond their abbreviated nature, he’s been tagged for a combined 10 runs and seen his command suffer considerably. Since the calendar flipped to May, Woods Richardson has pitched 13 1/3 innings and allowed 10 runs (6.75 ERA) on 15 hits (four homers) and eight walks. He’s walked 13.6% of his opponents against an ugly 15.3% strikeout rate and served up four of his eight home runs during that span.
A team optioning its fifth starter isn’t always headline news, but Woods Richardson’s demotion is a bit more notable given both a relatively lengthy run in starting five and the presence of two high-end young starters with the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate: right-handers David Festa and Zebby Matthews. Both ranked among the game’s top-100 prospects prior to their respective MLB debuts last year. Matthews is still prospect-eligible and sits at the No. 46 spot on Baseball America’s recently updated top-100 list.
Festa, 25, was hit hard in his first two big league starts last year but settled in with a 3.81 ERA, 30% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate in his final 11 major league turns down the stretch. He started three games for the Twins earlier in 2025, pitching 13 innings with a pristine 1.38 ERA. Over his past 14 MLB starts, the 6’6″, 185-pound righty — nicknamed the “Slim Reaper” — carries a 3.34 ERA, 29.4% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. Since being sent back to Triple-A last month, he’s tossed 11 2/3 innings and held opponents to three runs (2.31 ERA) on six hits and no walks with 14 punchouts.
Not to be outdone, the 24-year-old Matthews has started seven games in Triple-A this year and logged a sparkling 1.93 earned run average. The 6’5″, 225-pound righty has set down 28.1% of his opponents on strikes and walked a sharp 6.7% of his opponents. Matthews’ 2024 debut was the inverse of Festa’s first MLB look; he was terrific through three starts before being trounced for nine runs by the Blue Jays on Aug. 31. In his final six starts, he pitched just 22 2/3 innings and was tagged for 23 runs.
Both Festa and Matthews have the makings of potential long-term rotation pieces for the Twins. That’s not to say Woods Richardson won’t get another chance. He’s still only 24 himself and won’t turn 25 until September. This is also Woods Richardson’s final option year, so the Twins will need to find a role for him heading into the 2026 season. Righty Chris Paddack is a free agent at season’s end, and injuries can arise at any time to create further opportunities, of course.
For the time being, the Twins have Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Paddack starting games. Festa, Matthews and Woods Richardson are all on the 40-man roster and in the mix for the last rotation job, though it seems Woods Richardson is shifting to the back of the line for the short term, at the very least.
The Twins will start Paddack today (2.51 ERA, 20.2 K%, 7.8 BB% over his past six starts) and then go to Ryan (2.74 ERA) and Lopez (2.77 ERA) against the Brewers on Friday and Saturday, respectively. They’ll need to bring up another starter for Sunday’s series finale in Milwaukee, as Ober would only be on three days’ rest. They could also push Ryan and Lopez back a day, as Matthews is slated to start tomorrow and Festa would also be on full rest if summoned for Friday’s game.
Twins Select David Festa
June 27: The Twins have now formally announced the selection of Festa’s contract. He’ll make his debut today in Arizona. Right-hander Ronny Henriquez was optioned to St. Paul in a corresponding move.
June 26: The Twins are planning to select the contract of right-handed pitching prospect David Festa, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune. KSTP’s Darren Wolfson first reported that Festa had been scratched as today’s starter in St. Paul, likely setting the stage for a debut tomorrow.
The 24-year-old Festa will indeed be called up ahead of Thursday’s series finale against the Diamondbacks in Arizona. Minnesota has an open spot on the 40-man roster, although the team will still need to make a corresponding move to add him to the 26-man roster. He will take over for a recently injured Chris Paddack in the Twins’ rotation. Most public outlets, including Baseball America, FanGraphs, and MLB Pipeline, agree that Festa is one of the Twins’ top two pitching prospects, with both MLB Pipeline (No. 99) and FanGraphs (no. 93) including the young right-hander among their top 100 prospects. He represented the Twins in the 2023 Futures Game.
The lanky 6’6″ Festa was a 13th-round pick by Minnesota out of Seton Hall back in 2021. He’s added considerable velocity to a heater that now sits around 95 mph and reaches the upper 90s since being drafted. He pairs that offering with a mid- to upper-80s slider that can get whiffs against righties and a changeup that helps him keep lefties at bay.
Scouting reports from each of BA, FanGraphs and MLB.com credit each of those three pitches as above-average, with the heater drawing a plus (60) from the latter. Though Festa started the season with some uncharacteristic walk troubles — he issued a free pass to 20% of his opponents over his first four Triple-A starts this season — he’s since reined in the walks and is credited with average or better command from scouts.
In 59 2/3 innings this season, Festa is sitting on a solid 3.77 earned run average that aligns quite closely with his 3.92 FIP. He’s punched out an excellent 35.1% of his opponents, and though his 9.7% walk rate is higher than average, Festa has made significant strides in that regard since his rocky start to the season. Over his past 10 outings, he’s only walked 6.7% of his opponents (while striking out an even loftier 37.3% of them).
The Twins view Festa as a potential key piece of their rotation for years to come, and they’ll get their first look at him tomorrow against the D-backs. While Paddack’s absence creates a short-term opening in the rotation, there’s not a clear vacancy once he returns from his bout of shoulder fatigue. Manager Rocco Baldelli indicated that the Twins plan to keep Paddack in a starting role when he’s reinstated, although given that this is Paddack’s first full season back from a second career Tommy John surgery (and that he’s already eclipsed his combined 2022-23 workload), an eventual move to a relief role later in the season seems plausible.
At that point, Festa could step into a more permanent spot in the rotation, at least for the remainder of the current season. All five of the Twins’ current starters — Paddack, Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson — are signed/controlled through 2025 at the very least. Add in right-handers Louie Varland and Zebby Matthews (the Twins’ other top pitching prospect who ranks No. 99 at BA presently and boasts a combined 1.56 ERA and 76-to-3 K/BB ratio between High-A and Double-A this season), and the Twins have a budding and enviable stock of starting pitching depth on their hands.
That falls under the “good problem to have” umbrella, of course, and positions the team to withstand injuries or trade from a position of strength at next month’s deadline or in the coming offseason. Paddack will be a free agent following the 2025 season, but aside from that, the Twins’ entire collection of big league or near-MLB-ready starters is signed/controllable through at least 2027.
Turning back to Festa specifically, he won’t receive a full year of big league service in 2024, meaning he’ll still be controllable for at least six more seasons — all the way through 2030. He’s also being called up late enough in the year that even if he sticks on the roster, he won’t pick up enough time to reach Super Two status. At the earliest, he should be arbitration-eligible following the 2027 season, although future optional assignments could push back his timeline to both arbitration and free agency.