Minnesota Twins Planning Unexpected Call Up to Replace Pablo Lopez

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David Festa, Minnesota Twins
Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins have yet to officially place Pablo Lopez on the injured list, after he left Tuesday’s game with what was first relayed by manager Rocco Baldelli as a “very mild” leg injury. One day later, reports broke that Lopez was heading to the injured list.

That’s not great news for a Minnesota Twins team that has already dug itself a 4-8 hole to start the 2025 season or a starting rotation worth a bloated 5.49 ERA through 12 games, which ranks 29th in baseball.

The natural replacement for Lopez in the Twins rotation is 23-year-old prospect Zebby Matthews, who’s on the same pitching schedule as Lopez, down in St. Paul and who’s looked like a future star since the start of Spring Training, and into the Saints regular season (10 IP, 1.80 ERA, 0.60 WHIP, 13 K).

David Festa gets surprising call up

Thursday in Kansas City is the final game of the Twins’ four-game set vs the Royals. After, they’ll fly home for a three-game series at Target Field vs the Detroit Tigers. But rather than wait to slot Matthews in directly to Pablo’s spot in the rotation, the Minnesota Twins reportedly plan to promote his Saints teammate, David Festa, to throw Friday.

Festa pitching Friday will allow the Twins’ other starters an extra day off since their last start. Most likely, they’ll resume the rotation Saturday with Chris Paddack, into Simeon Woods-Richardson on Sunday to close their series vs Detroit.

During Grapefruit League action Festa was hit around. He threw 11 1/3 innings while giving up 15 runs on 19 hits with an 11/3 K/BB. He opened the Triple-A season with a strong start throwing five scoreless innings. His last time out though, he lasted just 3 1/3 while giving up six runs (five earned) on ten hits.

If the Twins believe Festa is their best option, they certainly aren’t misguided when looking at how he finished his rookie season. He took two ugly turns and was sent back to Triple-A. The former top pitching prospect returned for 12 more games (11 starts) and posted a 3.81 ERA (3.15 FIP) across 54 1/3 innings.

Early this season David Festa has seen a slight jump in his velocity. Last year he averaged 94.7 mph at the big league level. Even despite the lackluster weather conditions early, he owns a 95.2 mph average on his fastball. It’s clear that there’s a big league pitcher here, and he’ll have a few turns early to substantiate that.

Minnesota Twins rotation needed a breather

Paddack’s 14.73 ERA is second-worst among starting pitchers, with at least two starts this season. In other words, he’s has been terrible. This, despite the Twins choosing not to trade him in a salary dump move this offseason. Bailey Ober, who pitches today, enters with a 12.15 ERA and 2.400 WHIP in just 6.2 IP.

Related: Revealed: Why Byron Buxton is Out of the MN Twins Lineup Again

Simeon Woods Richardson owns a 5.59 ERA across a pair of starts (9 2/3 innings). He gave up just two runs during his first turn, but allowed four this week against the Royals. Then there’s Joe Ryan, who started out shaky but turned things around Wednesday allowing just 2 hits, 0 runs, 4 K, 0 BB in 7 innings.

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