After being sidelined since July 22 with right shoulder inflammation, Twins pitcher David Festa made a major step toward returning to big-league action by having a successful rehab assignment for Triple-A St. Paul on Thursday, hurling 2 2/3 scoreless innings with zero hits, three walks and five strikeouts. It appeared that Festa would be back on the major league roster before the season ended. However, the Minnesota Star Tribune's Bobby Nightengale's recent report suggests otherwise.
Twins pitcher David Festa to miss remainder of 2025 season
David Festa had a setback with his shoulder injury. He will visit Dr. Keith Meister for an examination, and he will miss the rest of the season.
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) September 2, 2025
It's a brutal blow for Festa, especially since Minnesota's starting rotation is now more crowded than ever with Pablo López, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Taj Bradley, Zebby Matthews, Mick Abel and Kendry Rojas all either in the major leagues or expected to be in the Twins' future plans. Now that Festa won't get any more starting opportunities this year, it's more likely than before that the Twins will move him to the bullpen in 2026, as he rarely pitches late into games.
Festa has made 11 outings (10 starts) with the Twins this year, posting a 5.40 ERA (4.87 FIP) with a 23.1% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 35.1% ground-ball rate in 53 1/3 innings. He relies on four pitches: a mid-90s fastball (37.1%), high-80s changeup (29%), high-80s slider (26.8%) and mid-90s sinker (12.5%).
Festa made his MLB debut with the Twins last season. He had 14 appearances (13 starts) for Minnesota in 2024, posting a 4.90 ERA with 77 strikeouts and 23 walks in 64 1/3 innings.
The Twins had Festa start the 2025 campaign with Triple-A St. Paul before adding him to the big-league squad in early April due to López suffering a mild hamstring strain. Festa made three starts before being sent back to Triple-A St. Paul, where he has a 2.59 ERA with 39 strikeouts and seven walks in 31 1/3 innings over seven starts this season. The Twins promoted Festa for the second time this year after López suffered a right shoulder strain, and he stayed in the majors until landing on the injured list in late July.