CHICAGO — With his rookie pitcher’s well-documented struggles facing a lineup for the second time running through his head on Monday night, Rocco Baldelli immediately activated the Twins bullpen even though David Festa was throwing the best game of his young career.
When Festa threw two consecutive balls after surrendering a two-out double in the fifth inning with his team ahead by two, the veteran manager responded with a call to the bullpen to provide himself with options.
Veteran reliever Caleb Thielbar began to warm up while pitching coach Pete Maki and catcher Ryan Jeffers headed for the mound to offer a breather to Festa, who only allowed three men to reach base. Yet even after he walked the Chicago Cubs’ ninth hitter four pitches later, Baldelli stuck with Festa.
The Twins rookie starting pitcher rewarded his manager and the team, ending his outing with a career-best ninth strikeout.
Buoyed by the prospect’s outstanding start, five pitchers combined on a four-hitter as the Twins topped the Cubs 3-0 in front of 35,382 at Wrigley Field. Allowing two hits and walking two in five scoreless innings, Festa helped the Twins, winners of five straight, move within 3 1/2 games of Cleveland, the closest they’ve been to first place since May 17.
“(Festa) was able to slow it down really good,” Baldelli said. “He came out really sharp. He missed a bunch of bats. He had a lot of different things working. Toward the end of the outing, he held it together really well. I couldn’t be more pleased with what we got out of him.”
As a function of their inability to land a starter at the deadline, this world, where a young pitcher could be lights out only to be removed without hesitation, is one the Twins must live in for their final 51 games.
Whether it’s Festa, Simeon Woods Richardson or hot prospect Zebby Matthews, the Twins look to be dependent on contributions from two young starting pitchers the rest of the way.
“We’re going to have a lot of young guys that are going to have to play a role for us,” Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said after Tuesday’s trade deadline. “These guys are going to be part of our future. They’re part of our present and future.”
The Twins believe in Festa’s talent, listed as the No. 87 MLB prospect, and fellow rookie Woods Richardson. The evidence supplied by Woods Richardson since he joined the rotation in late April is plentiful. There’s also Matthews, who has 109 strikeouts and only six walks this season, helping him rise from High-A Cedar Rapids to Triple-A St. Paul this season.
But they’re not there yet.
Though he’s struggled to go deep in his last two starts, the stability provided by Woods Richardson is hard to dispute. The team is 53-35 since he joined the rotation on April 25 and is 13-6 when he pitches this season.
Meanwhile, Festa’s fastball is lively and his changeup and slider can be good pitches if they’re working as they did Monday.
“We chased more than we normally chase, down specifically,” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s something we generally don’t do. But Festa’s off-speed pitches gave us some problems.”
David Festa, Dirty 90mph Changeup. 👌
9th K thru 5. pic.twitter.com/yt5RSNdMxG
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 6, 2024
The biggest chase came against what would have been Festa’s final batter, Ian Happ. With left-handed hitting Michael Busch on deck and two aboard, Thielbar was ready to supplant Festa.
But he wouldn’t take the mound until the start of the sixth.
Throwing a changeup backed by a 96 mph fastball, Festa got ahead of Happ 0-2 in the count. He tried to entice Happ with a changeup and a slider, but the veteran wouldn’t bite and evened the count. Still, Festa went back to his changeup one more time and generated his eighth swing-and-miss of the night with the pitch, stranding the pair of runners.
Making his exit toward the visiting dugout, Festa yelled to himself and strutted off the field.
“(The changeup is) getting better and better every outing,” Festa said. “I thought it was really good. I felt like I was throwing it for first-pitch strikes, and then at two strikes, getting that chase over the white. I was really happy with how it was. … There was a little emotion in a very competitive spot.”
Perhaps the moment will gain Festa, making only his fifth big league appearance, a little more faith in a big spot down the stretch.
But Maki and Baldelli gave him the opportunity Monday to pitch through a spot he’s struggled in thus far in his career.
Through his first four appearances, Festa had no trouble successfully navigating his way through the opposing lineup the first time. Entering Monday, when the Cubs went 1-for-9 with five strikeouts, opponents combined to hit .121/.194/.212 against Festa the first time through the order in 36 plate appearances.
The difficulty for Festa lies in his second time through the order. Coming in, opponents were hitting .441/.472/.912 in 36 plate appearances against Festa. On Monday, they went 1-for-7 with two walks and three strikeouts.
But Festa showed his manager and pitching coach enough the second time through to merit one more batter.
“There are a lot of things that could change those scenarios real quick,” Baldelli said. “The stuff still looked good. The strike-throwing was probably not as sharp as the outing went on, but did he still have the stuff to go out there and miss a bat? … We thought he did and he looked good.”
Festa looked good in part because used his changeup more frequently. Working with three consistent pitches kept Chicago hitters guessing.
Whereas in his previous outings, Festa threw the changeup only 22 percent of the time, he ramped it up to 37 percent against the Cubs. Overall, Festa finished with 14 swings-and-misses in 82 pitches, a career high.
“When he was coming up, you hear about the swing-and-miss,” Jeffers said. “We haven’t really seen it to the point where it had been in the minors until tonight. He was commanding his off-speed pitches behind in the count, and then in leverage counts, he was able to expand them a little bit more. I think that’s more of what we want to see from him. He can miss a lot of bats, and that’s what he did.”
Larnach washes away gaffe
He didn’t have anyone on the bench to make the move anyway, but Baldelli wasn’t going to pull Trevor Larnach after his mental base-running mistake in the third inning. Running on Matt Wallner’s two-out double to right, a ball that should have been caught but dropped in, Larnach inexplicably stopped after passing second base.
He’d forgotten how many outs there were. Trying to race home, Larnach instead was easily thrown out for the final out of the inning.
What initially appeared on TV broadcasts as a lack of hustle turned out to be a blunder that may have prevented the Twins from pulling away. Without Byron Buxton, Jose Miranda or Brooks Lee available, Baldelli instead told Larnach to forget the play and stay engaged in the game.
“Sometimes that stuff can stay with guys throughout games because he knows what he did,” Baldelli said. “It wasn’t a good baseball play, it was a mental error. Instead of him thinking the whole game that he let the team down in some way, I told him, ‘This is the last time you’re going to think about that play.’ … When we have a legitimate issue with effort, then I have a serious issue with the player. That’s not effort. Although it looks really bad, that was a mental error that cost us, but that was not an effort (play).”
Margot belts a solo shot to extend the lead #MNTwins | #MLB pic.twitter.com/P8z89M2L4H
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) August 6, 2024
Miscellaneous
Before the game, Baldelli noted the rookie Lee was dealing with a sore right shoulder, which kept him out of the lineup a second game in a row. Baldelli downplayed the significance of the soreness before Lee took the field and participated in infield and batting practice. … Carlos Correa will likely participate in a minor-league rehab assignment before returning to the big-league lineup. Correa (right plantar fasciitis) hasn’t played since July 10.
(Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski / USA Today)
