Twins set to shut down pitcher David Festa for remainder of season

David Festa’s season, in which he hoped to build upon his promising rookie year, has come to a premature end.

The righthander, put on the injured list in late July with inflammation in his pitching shoulder, was unable to complete a bullpen throwing session over the weekend because of a recurrence of pain in the shoulder. Festa will fly to Dallas in the near future to be examined by Dr. Keith Meister, an orthopedic surgeon who performed two elbow surgeries on former Twins pitcher Chris Paddack, among his many baseball clients.

It’s a disappointing development for the Twins, who expected Festa to be able to rejoin the pitching rotation soon. Festa retired eight batters without allowing a hit Thursday in Toledo, his first rehabilitation start for Class AAA St. Paul, and was expected to make another this week. Now it’s nearly certain he won’t pitch again in 2025.

Festa broke into the Twins rotation near midseason in 2024, and after two rough starts to open his career, he allowed more than three runs only once in his final 12 starts. He posted a 3.81 ERA over that stretch, earning him a spot as the first pitcher summoned this season when the Twins needed a fill-in starter.

This season wasn’t as smooth; Festa, after giving up only two runs over his first 13 innings, wound up with a 5.40 ERA in 11 appearances, with 10 home runs allowed in 53⅓ innings.

Austin Martin was an infielder on Vanderbilt’s College World Series championship team in 2019 and through much of his minor league career. But he has played the outfield almost exclusively in his two seasons with the Twins.

But Martin was in Tuesday night’s lineup against the Chicago White Sox as the starting second baseman and will get more chances over the final month, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Tuesday’s start was only the second of the season for Martin in the infield, and with Luke Keaschall and Edouard Julien also on the roster, it figures to remain an occasional assignment. But “for me, he’s always a consideration to play second base when Luke gets a day [off].”

The Twins might not be a part of the race for playoff spots this month, but Baldelli emphasized that the team has no intention of lightening the workload of veteran starting pitchers Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober, or Pablo López when he returns.

“I just plan on them pitching,” Baldelli said. “Things change, but I have no anticipation of shutting guys down early. That’s not even on my mind.”

Ryan — enjoying the best season of his five-year career, one that figures to earn him some down-ballot votes for the AL Cy Young Award — revealed after beating the San Diego Padres on Sunday that he has been feeling tired as he nears his career high in innings, having thrown 155 thus far. Ober has been battling mechanical difficulties, and López has missed three months with a strained muscle in his pitching shoulder.

After missing the final two months of 2024, Ryan is eager to “put a full season’s work together and show what that looks like,” Baldelli said. “He has been able to take care of his body and handle the grueling nature of the season, make all of his starts and stay very good. He’s going to have to do this for an extra two months longer than he did last year. And I think he’s up for the task.”