David Festa’s Shoulder Injury Could Point to Systematic Flaw in Twins Pitching Development

[Doctor Gast]

2 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

The craptacular "hitting" was never never getting them to the post season.

You can win games with just pitching. W/o pitching to hold you up, it's difficult to maintain any hitting & momentum.

[darin617]

5 hours ago, Nshore said:

It would be interesting to get the opinion directly from an old school pitcher like Blyleven who prided himself on making the manager pry the ball out of his cold dead hand.  How was his training different and how could today's injuries be avoided?

They also seemed to do more lower body work like running. All these guys today seem to just want to lift weights. I'm no expert, but I would think they get more velocity out of stronger legs and through the hips.

[gman]

Seems like all teams try to get their starters to that 'magic" 5 inning mark so that the starter can get a victory in the game. That should be done away with like probably 30 years ago. I don't think many (any) starting pitcher can hold up to 100 pitches per start and pitch 30 games a year. The new norm will probably fall to 75-80 pitches. With all the ridiculous changes baseball has made the last 5 years fixing the 5 inning rule should be easy enough to do.

[NYCTK]

1 hour ago, Sjoski said:

Seems to me MLB needs to revisit the idea of a tweak. 

Back in 1969, MLB lowered the mound from 15 to 10 inches to restore balance after the ‘Year of the Pitcher.’ With today’s game dominated by strikeouts and velocity, should MLB consider another tweak, like adjusting mound distance or height, to bring the sport back to a similar sweet spot between pitchers and hitters?

Not a chance. MLB is probably pretty happy with the run scoring environment. 

For 2025 the 4.47 R/G is below the median (4.55) but within normal deviation. 2013-2015 (4.07-4.25) was far more extreme than what we see today. As was 2019 (4.86).

 

[Woof Bronzer]

33 minutes ago, gman said:

I would like to read the report if you can remember the name of it.

I was struggling to find it when I posted the comment but just needed a little better googling: 

 https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/the-measure-of-a-fastball-has-changed-over-the-years/

[NYCTK]

39 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

You can win games with just pitching.

You, quite literally, cannot. 

[Western SD Fan]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

You can win games with just pitching.

The Seattle Mariners would like to have a conversation about this.

[Western SD Fan]

I'm not sure what to consider of Festa individually and to project his career as an implication on the overall pitching structure and plan.  Festa was a 13th round draft pick.  While pitchers can be fickle creatures in terms of development and who makes it and who doesn't, the fact that he made the major league team as a 13th round draft pick has to be a credit for his development, determination, and willingness to put in the work.  Festa may just be another pitcher statistic like many others that have suffered setbacks or injuries.  We can look at the 'model' organization, the Guardians, as an example.  They have had many pitchers that have suffered from injuries, but they are considered the gold standard as a pitching factory.  Compared to the Guardians or the Rays, the Twins have actually been healthier from a pitching standpoint.  Festa may be a sign of some other pitchers that the Twins have in the system that may end up being shifted to the bullpen in a role similar to Louis Varland.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

4 hours ago, Dave Borton said:

Good article with a question re: Twins development of arms.

Lots of criticism of the article but the implication is for all of ball. Speed kills arms. Outliers can tolerate the strain, many can't. Never know who those outliers will be. 

I would focus on pitch mix development/refinement and more use of lower body to gain torque and power/speed but can't prove it from this recliner. Do believe it would result in better long term success.

Certainly it's a question, but not a ton of evidence there.  As for more use of lower body to gain torque and power, I don't think we have any idea how much or how little they already do that.  I don't propose to know and I'm guessing it varies with each individual pitcher.  

I don't think that the Twins are ruining any pitchers by increasing their velocity.  If they didn't have the improved velocity, they would likely be out selling cars or insurance.   From a player's perspective, it's have a MLB career vs. not having a MLB career.  

[AceWrigley]

2 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

I was struggling to find it when I posted the comment but just needed a little better googling: 

 https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/the-measure-of-a-fastball-has-changed-over-the-years/

Good article, I remember reading it back then and having sat behind home plate watching Nolan Ryan pitch, the sound and amount of dust coming from the catcher's mitt was like no other pitcher ever. He was probably throwing 105 fastballs.

[HerbieFan]

Two things:

1) Festa is clearly headed to the bullpen IMHO

2) Falvey came from Cleveland.  Has anyone noticed how quickly the Guardians/Indians pitchers struggle with injuries?  We hear about these prospects and then they get hurt....guys like Bieber, Clevinger, Tristan McKenzie.....

[nicksaviking]

2 hours ago, HerbieFan said:

Two things:

1) Festa is clearly headed to the bullpen IMHO

2) Falvey came from Cleveland.  Has anyone noticed how quickly the Guardians/Indians pitchers struggle with injuries?  We hear about these prospects and then they get hurt....guys like Bieber, Clevinger, Tristan McKenzie.....

A list of three pitchers? I don't think people realize how often pitchers get hurt league-wide. Much, more frequently than the Twins and I'd wager much more frequently that the Guardians.

If the Twins have an injury problem with prospects, it's clearly on the offensive side.

[tony&rodney]

10 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

But again the idea that everyone throws so much faster today is a bit more complicated than people make it out to be.  

Most accurate statement on velocity that I have seen. 

[dxpavelka]

15 hours ago, old nurse said:

Yup. Steroids help recovery    Blyleven was in the low 90s, a lot less stress than in the high 90s. 

I'm sure throwing one of the best curveballs ever didn't cause any stress.

[dxpavelka]

10 hours ago, darin617 said:

They are babied big time in the minors. For a long time starters would not throw over 65 pitches in a game.  Now how does that work when they get promoted to the Twins? They are not able to get out of the 3rd inning. 

I can see limiting pitchers to 65 pitches a start until mid May or so.

That's my point.  They're babied from the first time they pick up a baseball.  High school, little league, college, minors, big leagues.  It's not just a Twins issue.  Evolution of the game.  Sad state of affairs. 

[dxpavelka]

16 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

It is baseball's problem. Not just the twins. Velocity does not always mean victory. But it seems as if it means injuries look at the list of pitchers the dodgers have on injured list this year and you see some of the best pitchers in the games being shut down. I prefer it when we have pitchers prepared to pitch complete games and relied on guile as well as speed.

They used to pitch.  Now they  throw.  The harder the better.  Don't rely on location or changing speeds.  Just throw the ball as hard as they can and hope it doesn't get hit and that they don't get to meet the Tommy John doc.

 

[gman]

19 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

I was struggling to find it when I posted the comment but just needed a little better googling: 

 https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/the-measure-of-a-fastball-has-changed-over-the-years/

Thanks

[Doctor Gast]

On 9/4/2025 at 1:23 PM, Parfigliano said:

The craptacular "hitting" was never never getting them to the post season.

IMO, there were a lot of reasons the Twins didn't make it to the postseason besides the pitching cratering.  Castro was an All-star in the 1st half but because he was overstretched covering for Buxton & Correa, he ran out of gas, Baldelli trying to fit Margot & Julien in the line-up. Buxton & Correa both MIA when we needed them the most. Lewis & Lee also running out of gas & the change of chemistry that ran over to this season. Yes we had crappy hitting but why? That's what we need to look at.