Emergence and Upside—Zebby or Festa?

[stringer bell]

David Festa and Zebby Matthews both made their major league debuts in 2024 and were counted on as starting pitching depth for the Twins this year. Both guys have assumed slots in the starting rotation this year and both have had mixed results.

Currently Festa is on the IL and has a 3-4 record with a 5.40 ERA. He has walked 19 and fanned 53 in 53+ innings. Matthews spent almost a month on the IL and has a  2-2 log with a 4.97 ERA with 9 walks and 37 Ks in 29 innings.

Festa is two months older and has advanced through the system ahead of Zebby.  Both hurlers have upped their velocity substantially since signing on with the Twins.

The discussion questions for the TD faithful are in the thread title. Which guy has the best and most upside and which do you see as the first to emerge as a quality starting pitcher?

My preference is Zebby Matthews in a close call. I see Zebby getting more swing and miss with his upper 90s fastball and slightly better command although his low walk totals in the minors would seem to be a bit of a mirage. Festa’s slider and change look pretty effective, but his FIP is quite a bit higher than Matthews.

It would appear that the Twins will be counting on both 25-year-olds for the rest of the year (assuming the Slim Reaper returns next month) and in the future. Matthews has a 2.75 FIP while Festa’s stands at 4.83 for what it’s worth. 

[Linus]

As always a thought provoking post. I like Matthews better both currently and for upside. I like his fastball better and his command is better. Festa seems to leave a few too many fat pitches out there. Sometime he gets away with it sometimes they get hammered. Glad to have both for the future. Would anyone consider trading either of them for a bat?

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, Linus said:

As always a thought provoking post. I like Matthews better both currently and for upside. I like his fastball better and his command is better. Festa seems to leave a few too many fat pitches out there. Sometime he gets away with it sometimes they get hammered. Glad to have both for the future. Would anyone consider trading either of them for a bat?

No way I'm trading either. They're basically free and likely get better. I guess if you can get a hitter with five years of control who is already good? But who is doing that trade on the other side? 

I don't know who is better!

[Major League Ready]

Zebby for me.  Better fastball although he did leave quite a few fastballs over the heart of the plate last night.  He won't get away with that with good hitters.   I think he has the potential to be every bit as good as Ryan and Festa looks like at least a 3 to me if he commands his pitches.  No way in hell I would trade either of them.  I would trade Ober before either one of them or perhaps Pablo if the money was spent wisely.

[Mike Sixel]

8 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

Zebby for me.  Better fastball although he did leave quite a few fastballs over the heart of the plate last night.  He won't get away with that with good hitters.   I think he has the potential to be every bit as good as Ryan and Festa looks like at least a 3 to me if he commands his pitches.  No way in hell I would trade either of them.  I would trade Ober before either one of them or perhaps Pablo if the money was spent wisely.

Agree on that last part for sure. 

[NotAboutWinning]

I look forward to watching the competition between these two for many years to come 😁

[Linus]

3 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

No way I'm trading either. They're basically free and likely get better. I guess if you can get a hitter with five years of control who is already good? But who is doing that trade on the other side? 

I don't know who is better!

You read my mind. The lineup needs a shake up and if I could get a young bat (either first or corner outfield) Thats could contribute next year I would consider trading Festa. I have no idea if that player (and trade partner) exists.   And who knows maybe it’s better to keep Festa and deal Jax for that bat. 

[tony&rodney]

They both have upside. We need to remember that they are still learning to pitch and trust their stuff. Festa gets some really good movement. Against the Dodgers I had him with only 6 pitches in the hitting zone (middle area) and yet he was panned for being too hittable. Yesterday Matthews was dominant but left more pitches in the hitting zone. I'm really high on both these pitchers and Woods Richardson as well. We are watching Ryan reach his potential. It takes time and Twins fans should be pretty pumped to have these two on the team. Fun to watch.