David Festa Gets the Call to the Big Leagues, Maybe For Good

[Riverbrian]

23 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I prefer your option to the DeSclafani/Bundy option, but I still like the path of trading for controllable talented pitchers like Lopez, Gray, Ryan, Maeda and Odorizzi. Even with the Mahles and Paddocks included, this seems to be the highest hit rate by far.

I have no problem with that path either... other than the price being young prospects which could leave a future hole just to patch a current hole.  

Either way... we need to produce either a player or produce a trade chip in our pipeline and we will need to produce more than one.

Every Bundy we sign to eat innings at a 5.00 ERA gets in the away of finding more than one.   

 

[Riverbrian]

2 hours ago, ashbury said:

 I'm just a fan.

And I'm just a Cat trying to read you.

[jmlease1]

Exciting opportunity for Festa! AZ will be a very good challenge; they score plenty of runs. But he's a legit 3-pitch guy: the slider is an effective pitch and the changeup really helps against lefty hitters, so if he can keep hitters from squaring up on his fastball he should do well. Looking forward to seeing how he does.

It would be a nice win for the scouting and development departments too. Festa was hardly a significant name coming out of college, and converting a 13th round college pitcher into a legit MLB starter would be massive.

[Fatbat]

Mlb.com doesn’t show the transaction(s) yet. Anyone know who will be sent down? Henriquez after he pitches tonight?

[gman]

I'd like to see him hang in there and reach the 60 pitch mark. If he gets a 2-3 week opportunity, I think we get a good review of who he is and he will get a good idea of what he needs to work on. The upcoming schedule looks like Arizona tomorrow, Detroit next week, and Chicago White Sox the following week., then the all star break. Hopefully he gets enough of a test that he can settle down and throw some good innings.

[FlyingFinn]

13 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

Mlb.com doesn’t show the transaction(s) yet. Anyone know who will be sent down? Henriquez after he pitches tonight?

They won't actually do the transaction until after the game tonight just because the game could affect the Twins plans (injury or someone used for a lot of innings).

[Shaitan]

1 hour ago, Fatbat said:

Mlb.com doesn’t show the transaction(s) yet. Anyone know who will be sent down? Henriquez after he pitches tonight?

That seems to be the role Henriquez has on the 40 right now. Interim. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

6 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

I love Major League Debuts. I don't want to miss it. 

 

Maybe it would be a good time to patronize one of your local watering holes? 

[ashbury]

2 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

And I'm just a Cat trying to read you.

Stop rotating your head and you'll notice I'm just covering all the bases. 😀

[mikelink45]

Hurray - I am excited

 

[jimbo92107]

First, CONGRATULATIONS to David Festa. It's a long, hard road for most guys to the majors, and to make it to The Show as a starting pitcher has to be one of the most difficult challenges other than becoming a starting NFL quarterback (by which I mean a successful QB). I hope Festa manages to get his family to his first game, and I hope they get to see his first strikeout before his first home run allowed. 

Second, I like Festa's delivery. He looks like a bit of a scarecrow, with lots of feet, knees and elbows, adding up to a bit of apparent confusion. I'm guessing he's not very easy to read. Solid tactical foundation with a good slider to righties and a good changeup to lefties. Decent heater with serious dive and a high release point. 

Anybody else getting a workhorse vibe from this guy? Nothing about his style looks fluky. Here's hoping he hits his spots and trusts his catcher to call a good game.

[mark sills]

so who moves up to take his place, only two good options zebby or Andrew Morris 

[UPDude]

8 hours ago, Patzky said:

Pablo Day and Festaval.

The Twins are fun again if nothing else.

Frankly, I am shocked that no one has suggested Festavus yet.

[Jocko87]

So what would suggest the "maybe for good" part of the headline?

Huge milestone but lets leave the sensationalizing to the posters like me.

[Whitey333]

Welcome aboard Festa.  Good luck in your debut Thursday.

 

[Squirrel]

Join us in today’s game thread for Festa-vus!

(Thanks, @UPDude 🙂)

[GCTF]

Happy for the young man. I certainly prefer this to a recycled vet. That said, and forgive my ignorance, but why has he thrown less than 60 innings in 14 starts? 

[terrydactyls]

Both of the Twins games with the Diamondbacks were blacked out in my area.  I'm in Maine!!  Does MLB think I'm going to hop on a plane and fly to Phoenix?  The blackout rules are beyond my comprehension.

[Scott51104]

C'mon MLB. Remember the Maine fans.

[laloesch]

Good for Festa.  Hopefully he nails this start.  Exciting stuff.

[SaberNerd]

4 hours ago, GCTF said:

Happy for the young man. I certainly prefer this to a recycled vet. That said, and forgive my ignorance, but why has he thrown less than 60 innings in 14 starts? 

For the first few starts of the year, they were only having him throw 50 pitches.  He hasn't thrown a ton of innings in previous years, so this was likely an attempt to have him as a potential option in September/October rather than get shut down.

He also hasn't always been efficient with his pitch count.  Command issues and large number of whiffs lead to long PA.  I wouldn't be surprised if he only goes 5 innings at around 85 pitches.