Here’s an update on Festa and Lee via Gleeman (The Athletic). I purposely skipped his comments on Wallner, as I think he’s not going anywhere until after the trade deadline, which may free up a spot for him. Also, I don’t see Larnach or Martin being demoted to make room, both have earned their keep for now. FWIW, Larnach strikes me as a better pure hitter than Wallner, who’s whiff rate, may inhibit him from becoming a regular MLB contributor.
I also think Lee is the longer term solution at second, as he’ll likely hit for a higher average, is a switch hitter (love those guys), profiles as a better fielder than Eddie, as a ciollege SS and can play multiple infield positions. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Eddie moved at some point.
Will be interesting to see if Festa gets a chance this year.
David Festa’s whiff factory
Three teams have used just six starting pitchers this season, tying for the fewest in baseball. Two of them are the
New York Yankees and
Philadelphia Phillies, owners of the top record in each league. And the third is the Twins, whose only rotation changes were calling up
Simeon Woods Richardson to replace
Louie Varland in April and giving Varland a spot start last week.
Woods Richardson has been one of the team’s
biggest bright spots, posting a 3.29 ERA in 11 starts; veterans
Pablo López,
Joe Ryan,
Chris Paddack and
Bailey Ober have stayed healthy; and Varland just showed he’s still a viable option if more starter help is required. And now
David Festa, the Twins’ top pitching prospect, is knocking on the door to the majors as well.
Festa has a 3.50 ERA with 81 strikeouts over 54 innings at Triple-A St. Paul, including double-digit strikeouts in three of his last eight starts in spite of a pitch count capped around 90. Festa leads all Triple-A starters by striking out 36 percent of batters faced, an average of 13.5 per nine innings, and he’s allowed two runs or fewer in 11 of 13 starts this season.
And the 24-year-old right-hander’s overpowering raw stuff has been even more impressive than his numbers. Festa’s fastball has averaged 95.2 mph, regularly reaching 97 to 99, and it’s pretty clearly been his third-best pitch behind a slider and a changeup that have basically turned Triple-A hitters into mush at the plate.
Festa’s high-80s slider, used 37 percent of the time, has held opponents to a .196 batting average and generated whiffs on 45 percent of their swings. His high-80s changeup, used 26 percent of the time, has held opponents to a .197 batting average with whiffs on 44 percent of their swings. Plenty of prospects have mid-90s velocity, but few have two legit, bat-missing off-speed weapons.
Control remains Festa’s biggest weakness, with 4.0 walks per nine innings, but he’s trimmed that to 2.9 per nine in his last 10 starts, the most recent of which featured 10 strikeouts and no walks. Slinging fastballs and sliders to righties, and fastballs and changeups to lefties, is a straightforward recipe for success with such high-octane stuff if he can consistently throw strikes.
Brooks Lee looking healthy
Brooks Lee would almost surely have made his big-league debut by now if not for the herniated disk in his back that popped up in the middle of spring training and sidelined him for the first two months of the Triple-A schedule. After a two-week rehab assignment in the low minors, Lee joined St. Paul’s lineup on June 5 and has hit .290 in his first nine games.
Combined with his rehab work, Lee has hit .342 in 19 games since returning from the back injury and the reports on his fielding have been encouraging as well. Lee continues to play mostly shortstop despite Correa’s presence in the majors, but he’s also been working at second and third base since spring training to prepare for his future in the Twins’ infield.
Lee’s switch-hitting ability and fielding flexibility could make him the next-in-line prospect at a bunch of positions and for varied roles, either directly (shortstop, third base, second base, designated hitter) or indirectly by way of freeing up Castro for more outfield action. For now, his most obvious call-up path is beating Julien in a race to second base at Target Field.
twinsdaily.com
