David Festa “Gradually Ramping Up” While Working Back From Shoulder Issue

[Cody Christie]

Spring training is always about progression, but for David Festa, the climb toward Opening Day may be a little more deliberate this year.

According to The Star Tribune’s Bobby Nightengale, Festa is “gradually ramping up” this spring after ending the 2025 season on the injured list. In September, Festa was diagnosed with a mild form of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, which caused nerve compression in his right shoulder. He underwent treatment that included Botox injections in an effort to avoid surgery.

Over the weekend in Fort Myers, Festa took another step forward by throwing live at-bats on a back field. Nightengale reported that his fastball sat between 91 and 92 miles per hour during the session. That mark falls short of last season when Festa averaged 94.1 miles per hour on his four-seamer, but it is also an indication that he is trending in the right direction after previously being limited to bullpen sessions.

The nerve issue near his pitching shoulder required a cautious offseason approach, and the Twins are clearly taking the same path this spring. Even so, Festa still has a legitimate opportunity to win a spot in Minnesota’s rotation as camp progresses.

Earlier in the winter, there was some speculation that Festa could shift to the bullpen in order to bolster a group lacking high upside right-handed options. However, starting pitching depth has quickly become a priority for the Twins following the news that Pablo López will miss the 2026 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Minnesota’s projected rotation currently includes Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson, and Taj Bradley. The final spot could ultimately come down to Festa, Zebby Matthews, and Mick Abel as the calendar inches closer to Opening Day. Whichever two pitchers fall short in that competition will likely begin the year with the St. Paul Saints and serve as early-season depth should injuries arise or performance dictate a change.

Festa entered last season as arguably Minnesota’s top pitching prospect after posting a 34.9 K% with a 4.00 FIP at Triple-A in 2024. However, his big-league tenure has matched those upper-minors results. In 117 2/3 innings, he has posted an 83 ERA+, 4.27 FIP, and 25.7 K%.

For Festa, Saturday’s live session was not about velocity as much as it was about availability. If the trend continues upward, he could still find himself in the Opening Day conversation even as the Twins take a patient approach to his return.

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[DJL44]

I don't see how he ramps up enough to get into the rotation by Opening Day. That would put him in AAA again at age 26. I don't know how many healthy innings they will get out of Festa, so it makes little sense to be throwing them in AAA.

[nicksaviking]

They need to commit to the pen with him before the season starts. They can't just peg all of these guys as starters and then just randomly move them to the pen mid season; that never works out. There has to be a commitment to the role. This is going to be your job now, I know it might be hard to accept, but late inning bullpen work is vital and we've got LaTroy Hawkins and Glen Perkins right here in house that would love to tell you how this switch changed their careers for the better.

[jmlease1]

14 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

They need to commit to the pen with him before the season starts. They can't just peg all of these guys as starters and then just randomly move them to the pen mid season; that never works out. There has to be a commitment to the role. This is going to be your job now, I know it might be hard to accept, but late inning bullpen work is vital and we've got LaTroy Hawkins and Glen Perkins right here in house that would love to tell you how this switch changed their careers for the better.

Maybe, but they certainly don't need to do it right now. They can have him build up like he might start and shift him to the bullpen, but you can't go the other way without wasting 2-4 weeks, so might as well have him proceed as he is.

With Pablo done for the season already, there's 2 spots in the rotation up for grabs and while I see Bradley, Matthews, and Abel as the most likely contenders, Festa could still be in the mix and they might feel the need to have more than whichever one of those three doesn't get the initial nod plus Morris and maybe Preilipp in AAA waiting on the call to start.

Moving Klein to the bullpen seems more urgent that Festa right now, at least to me.

[Dman]

I do think the Pablo injury could make the Twins think twice about an immediate bullpen role for Festa.  He has some MLB experience as a starter and while he likely won't get you five innings he was pretty good at getting through 4 innings.

As others have noted I like him better in the pen as in time he could be elite there.  We'll see where things end up but as @DJL44 mentioned he is 26 already.  Can't wait around much longer on a decision or you lose those MLB innings as he enters his prime years.

[HerbieFan]

Wonder if he won't end up on the 60-day IL to clear a roster spot early in the season.  Then he can be slowly ramped up and would be ready to pitch at AAA by June 1.

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

Maybe, but they certainly don't need to do it right now. They can have him build up like he might start and shift him to the bullpen, but you can't go the other way without wasting 2-4 weeks, so might as well have him proceed as he is.

With Pablo done for the season already, there's 2 spots in the rotation up for grabs and while I see Bradley, Matthews, and Abel as the most likely contenders, Festa could still be in the mix and they might feel the need to have more than whichever one of those three doesn't get the initial nod plus Morris and maybe Preilipp in AAA waiting on the call to start.

Moving Klein to the bullpen seems more urgent that Festa right now, at least to me.

Of all the youngish starters who could be relievers, Festa is the one that looks the most like Louis Varland and Trevor May. Good stuff that just isn't translating in the rotation. And he's already gotten 23 starts, Varland only got 22.

Now with the TOS situation on top of that, the odds that Festa turns into a good rotation piece seem extremely remote. Put him where he still has a chance to be a very good asset.

And regardless of what Tom Pohlad says, the Twins need to be less concerned about depth in 2026 than are about finally digging themselves out of this roster hell hole and putting together an all around good squad in 2027 and beyond. Finding the long-term bullpen arms for 2027 starts in February and March of this year, not mid-season and absolutely not after the season. These guys need time to work out the wrinkles and adjust to the change this year.

[Mike Sixel]

3 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

They need to commit to the pen with him before the season starts. They can't just peg all of these guys as starters and then just randomly move them to the pen mid season; that never works out. There has to be a commitment to the role. This is going to be your job now, I know it might be hard to accept, but late inning bullpen work is vital and we've got LaTroy Hawkins and Glen Perkins right here in house that would love to tell you how this switch changed their careers for the better.

Agreed. He's nowhere near the top 4 or 5 SP prospects right now, or in the future. This year is toast. Start him on his long term path (you know, like they should have earlier with almost every starter they have moved to RP other than Duran).

[Cory Engelhardt]

I can't see any way that he is in the rotation opening day. Zebby and Abel both have looked good so far and he is still ramping up. I still think he fits in best in the pen, but I get why they would want to build him up slowly and then hopefully get to the 3-4 innings pitched mark by the end of spring. Still, some time in AAA to start the year to learn the cadence of being in the bullpen and getting ready to pitch in relief makes a lot of sense to me.

[DocBauer]

Gradual ramp doesn't mean he won't be ready. But if he's good to go for short stints, more and more he looks like a potential quality pen arm.

I'm still questioning his velocity. I've watched him a lot and have seen him sit  at 94-95 and touch 97. As a 1 IP I'd bet he hits 98-100. He still needs to refine his secondary stuff, but he reminds me a lot of past relievers who flashed as starters but turned out to be outstanding RP. I still say that's where he ends up.

And maybe this is a progression for HIM and the Twins to see his future.

[thelanges5]

Per Matthew Leach today, Festa mentioned 3rd bullet. Unrelated to the TOC according to Paparesta.

#MNTwins injury updates:
* López surgery successful, and it was repair rather than reconstruction, very good news
* Ryan is progressing with long toss and will throw a bullpen this weekend 
* Festa shut down “a couple weeks” with shoulder impingement. Had an injection. start of season in jeopardy.

[Chembry]

36 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

Per Matthew Leach today, Festa mentioned 3rd bullet. Unrelated to the TOC according to Paparesta.

#MNTwins injury updates:
* López surgery successful, and it was repair rather than reconstruction, very good news
* Ryan is progressing with long toss and will throw a bullpen this weekend 
* Festa shut down “a couple weeks” with shoulder impingement. Had an injection. start of season in jeopardy.

Definitely not an ideal update for Festa.  I know there are varying degrees of shoulder impingements, but that's what kept Roki Sasaki off the mound for 4 months with the Dodgers.  We have all been wondering and thinking that a bullpen role for Festa is probably best to keep him healthy.  This seems to add to that.

[Cris E]

At the very least the bullpen is his shortest path back to playing in games. As he recovers from this they've got a choice of building a starter's stamina or getting him ready to throw 20-30 good pitches, and I think they'll likely take the more direct path back.  The one good thing about this is that after more missed time he might be more on board with pitching when/where he can rather than according to the old dreams of starting.

[DJL44]

Is Festa the new Canterino?

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Man, that sucks for Festa. Was really hoping he'd find a niche in the bullpen this season. Still might happen but this doesn't bode well.

[ashbury]

On 2/26/2026 at 10:02 AM, DJL44 said:

Is Festa the new Canterino?

We still have one of those.  How about him being the new Alex Meyer or Kohl Stewart?