Last year the Minnesota Twins experienced a youth movement that helped save the season. It was merely the first wave of young talent coming up, though, as the Twins have once again dipped into the pool of top prospects in the farm system and will be debuting another hotly touted player.
David Festa, Minnesota’s top pitching prospect, will be making his MLB debut on Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The move comes after the Twins placed Chris Paddack on the 15-day IL with arm soreness, which opened up a spot in the rotation. There was some speculation that Louie Varland could get another look after he impressed in his last spot start, but instead fans will be treated to the debut of a player who has quickly ascended to Major League status.
David Festa is making his much anticipated MLB debut this week
Festa started the season as someone who was viewed as a top prospect within the organization, but was still grouped in with guys like Marco Raya. He quickly separated himself from that pack, lighting up Triple-A St. Paul while making a case for his promotion much sooner than expected.
So far this season he’s posted a 1.291 WHIP and nearly 90 strikeouts in 14 games, which is a exactly the type of growth everyone wanted to see out of him after a strong finish to last year. He was recently added as a Top 100 prospect in MLB Pipeline’s latest ranking which goes to show just how incredible his rise through the farm system has been.
Most expected Brooks Lee to be the next top prospect called up for his debut, but the way Festa has been pitching makes it hard to argue against seeing what he has at the MLB level. Both of them were fast risers, and it might not be long before they reunite on the 26-man roster.
Festa took a path not unlike the one that was laid out in front of Lee. Had a herniated disc not stunted the start of his season, there’s a solid chance Lee would have made his debut after Royce Lewis hit the IL after Opening Day.
Instead, Austin Martin made his debut and now fans will get to see Festa take the baton from him. The fact that twi top prospects will have already debuted with Lee still waiting in the wings is a testament to how deep the Twins’ youth movement runs.
It’s unclear how long Festa will be in the mix for a MLB roster spot. The expectation is for Paddack to return after some rest on the IL, which will create a logjam in the rotation. There’s the possibility for Joe Ryan to be shut down and given some rest to preserve his hot start to the season, which once again opens a spot for Festa to remain on the roster.
Even if this is nothing more than a spot start, a strong outing will put Festa on a pretty clear path to staying in the majors. He’s being added to the 40-man roster, which means he’ll have taken the final step all top prospects need to make before officially becoming part of the plan.
We’ll have to wait until Thursday to see exactly what that looks like.