David Festa

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Minnesota Twins #5 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 50/High
  
  Track Record: The Twins’ 2021 draft is shaping up to be excellent, but a lot of the best picks are performing elsewhere now. Four of the Twins’ top five picks that year--Chase Petty, Steve Hajjar, Cade Povich and Christian Encarnacion-Strand--have been traded, but Festa, a 13th-round pick out of Seton Hall, has blossomed to become a Twins later-round pitching find. That group includes Bailey Ober, Louie Varland and Josh Winder, none drafted earlier than the seventh round. Festa cruised through both Class A levels in 2022, posting a 2.43 ERA in 103.2 innings, paving the way for a 2023 season spent primarily at Double-A Wichita and also including 12.1 innings at Triple-A St. Paul. He represented the Twins at the Futures Game and threw a scoreless inning with one strikeout.
  
  Scouting Report: Festa has steadily added velocity in pro ball and now is among the hardest throwers in the Twins’ system. He is a skinny-legged skyscraper of a pitcher at 6-foot-6 who attacks hitters by working up in the zone with his above-average 94-95 mph fastball. Against righthanded batters, he follows up with an above-average 86-88 mph slider down and away. For lefthanded batters, Festa favors his above-average changeup down and to his arm side. When he’s on, Festa has three swing-and-miss pitches to go with average control.
  
  The Future: After the Twins lost Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda to free agency, Festa should be an important part of the team’s rotation depth in 2024. He should begin the season in Triple-A St. Paul, but he’s just down the road for when the team needs a fill-in starter. That should be preparation for him stepping into a rotation role later in 2024 or 2025.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 55 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50
• 
  Ranked Minnesota Twins #10 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/High
  
  Track Record: In recent years, the Twins have done an excellent job of finding and developing pitchers in the draft's later rounds. Between Bailey Ober (12th round, 2017), Josh Winder (seventh, 2018) and Louie Varland (15th, 2019), the Twins are averaging about one sleeper per draft. It looks likely that Festa, a 13th-rounder in 2021, will join that group. When the Twins drafted Festa out of Seton Hall in 2021, he was a college pitcher who had the projectability of a prep pitcher. A tall-and-skinny 6-foot-6, 185 pounds, Festa has gone from throwing 86-88 mph early in his college career to touching 98 in 2022. He earned a quick promotion to High-A Cedar Rapids after he held Florida State League opponents to a .148 average.
  
  Scouting Report: Festa's once below-average fastball is now a plus-plus 94-96 mph pitch that generates swings-and-misses in and above the strike zone thanks to its carry and velocity. His lanky build and somewhat funky delivery seems to make it harder for hitters to take comfortable swings. Festa has long had a plus mid-80s changeup, a pitch he perfected before he added velocity. Newfound power has improved Festa's high-80s power slider, which now flashes above-average. It's not consistent yet. When he's on, Festa has three swing-and-miss pitches to go with average control.
  
  The Future: Festa may need to add a slower curve to give him something to mess with hitters' timing more than his power-heavy approach, but the strides he has taken in the past two years are a strong indicator of what he could become. There's still room for the lanky Festa to fill out more. He should head to Double-A Wichita in 2023. He's a potential midrotation starter who would also fit as a higher-leverage reliever.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 70. Slider: 55. Changeup: 60. Control: 50

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #471 prospect in 2021 draft
  At 6-foot-6, 185 pounds, Festa has a tall, lanky build with some sneaky projection for a college pitcher to potentially throw harder. Some scouts wonder whether his frame is too narrow to project much more physically from him, but his velocity has crept up from early in the season, when he was sitting 88-92 mph, to 90-94 mph with a peak of 96. The pitch he leans on heavily is his 81-84 mph changeup, which has good separation off his fastball with good tumble and fade at its best. It's inconsistent but flashes as a solid-average pitch, with Festa showing the confidence to throw it ahead or behind in the count. Festa throws a slider and curveball but his breaking stuff is below-average. He could end up in a bullpen role, with a chance he could pump upper-90s fastballs in short bursts if he's able to pack on more weight and strength.

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/High
  
  Track Record: In recent years, the Twins have done an excellent job of finding and developing pitchers in the draft's later rounds. Between Bailey Ober (12th round, 2017), Josh Winder (seventh, 2018) and Louie Varland (15th, 2019), the Twins are averaging about one sleeper per draft. It looks likely that Festa, a 13th-rounder in 2021, will join that group. When the Twins drafted Festa out of Seton Hall in 2021, he was a college pitcher who had the projectability of a prep pitcher. A tall-and-skinny 6-foot-6, 185 pounds, Festa has gone from throwing 86-88 mph early in his college career to touching 98 in 2022. He earned a quick promotion to High-A Cedar Rapids after he held Florida State League opponents to a .148 average.
  
  Scouting Report: Festa's once below-average fastball is now a plus-plus 94-96 mph pitch that generates swings-and-misses in and above the strike zone thanks to its carry and velocity. His lanky build and somewhat funky delivery seems to make it harder for hitters to take comfortable swings. Festa has long had a plus mid-80s changeup, a pitch he perfected before he added velocity. Newfound power has improved Festa's high-80s power slider, which now flashes above-average. It's not consistent yet. When he's on, Festa has three swing-and-miss pitches to go with average control.
  
  The Future: Festa may need to add a slower curve to give him something to mess with hitters' timing more than his power-heavy approach, but the strides he has taken in the past two years are a strong indicator of what he could become. There's still room for the lanky Festa to fill out more. He should head to Double-A Wichita in 2023. He's a potential midrotation starter who would also fit as a higher-leverage reliever.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 70. Slider: 55. Changeup: 60. Control: 50
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/High
  
  Track Record: In recent years, the Twins have done an excellent job of finding and developing pitchers in the draft's later rounds. Between Bailey Ober (12th round, 2017), Josh Winder (seventh, 2018) and Louie Varland (15th, 2019), the Twins are averaging about one sleeper per draft. It looks likely that Festa, a 13th-rounder in 2021, will join that group. When the Twins drafted Festa out of Seton Hall in 2021, he was a college pitcher who had the projectability of a prep pitcher. A tall-and-skinny 6-foot-6, 185 pounds, Festa has gone from throwing 86-88 mph early in his college career to touching 98 in 2022. He earned a quick promotion to High-A Cedar Rapids after he held Florida State League opponents to a .148 average.
  
  Scouting Report: Festa's once below-average fastball is now a plus-plus 94-96 mph pitch that generates swings-and-misses in and above the strike zone thanks to its carry and velocity. His lanky build and somewhat funky delivery seems to make it harder for hitters to take comfortable swings. Festa has long had a plus mid-80s changeup, a pitch he perfected before he added velocity. Newfound power has improved Festa's high-80s power slider, which now flashes above-average. It's not consistent yet. When he's on, Festa has three swing-and-miss pitches to go with average control.
  
  The Future: Festa may need to add a slower curve to give him something to mess with hitters' timing more than his power-heavy approach, but the strides he has taken in the past two years are a strong indicator of what he could become. There's still room for the lanky Festa to fill out more. He should head to Double-A Wichita in 2023. He's a potential midrotation starter who would also fit as a higher-leverage reliever.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 70. Slider: 55. Changeup: 60. Control: 50
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 50/High
  
  May Update: Festa earned a promotion to High-A Cedar Rapids after dominating younger hitters in a five-start stint with Low-A Fort Myers. It&#39s fair to say that Festa should have been too advanced for Low-A hitters, as he posted a 2.00 ERA as a starter for Seton Hall in 2021. But the quality of his arsenal is worth a second look. Festa is sitting 95-96 mph and touching 98-99. He also throws a plus slider and changeup that will be more tested in the MIdwest League.