WEST SACRAMENTO -- Twins infielders began to converge on the pitcher’s mound at Sutter Health Park before Athletics outfielder Lawrence Butler had even finished unstrapping his shin guard.
When Butler took a fastball outside to draw a two-out walk in the bottom of the fourth inning, it was evident to everyone that Twins starter David Festa’s day was done. Manager Rocco Baldelli made it official, signaling to the right-field bullpen before even crossing the foul line to take the baseball from Festa.
There was little doubt about it: The young right-hander’s return to the Twins rotation had not gone well.
“I think overall execution was bad,” Festa said. “I think I did a bad job of making a big pitch when I needed to.”
A Minnesota ballclub seeking length from its starting pitchers didn’t get it in Thursday’s 14-3 loss to the A’s, in which Festa allowed a career-high eight runs and failed to complete four innings. Reliever Jorge Alcala handed Festa the final run on his line by inheriting Butler as a baserunner in the fourth, allowing a single and a walk, then giving up a grand slam to Tyler Soderstrom that put the game out of hand.
With right-hander Pablo López (Grade 2 teres major strain) placed on the 15-day injured list Thursday -- and expected to miss substantial time -- a Twins rotation with one of the best ERAs in the Majors will be tested. Festa, the team’s first choice to slot into the rotation after a 1.38 ERA in three MLB starts this year, was the next man up.
Given short notice, Festa booked it across the country to West Sacramento on Wednesday, ready to start Thursday and provide rest for the remainder of Minnesota’s rotation.
But once again, Festa couldn’t provide much length. He threw 80 pitches and got just 11 outs, giving up home runs to Max Muncy, Jacob Wilson and Soderstrom.
Festa has yet to complete five innings this season, and he’s only gotten outs in the sixth inning once in 17 career MLB starts. For a Twins team whose manager spoke before the game about the benefits of longer outings from the rotation, it wasn’t ideal.
“There’s a lot of reasons for it, but when your starters can go out there and pitch you into the sixth inning and beyond, it does a lot of things to help a team,” Baldelli said.
Entering Thursday, Twins starters averaged 5.20 innings per outing, which ranked 20th in MLB. Among the 106 pitchers with 10 or more starts this season, one would have to scroll down to No. 38 to find the first Twin on the list: Joe Ryan at 5.73 innings per outing.
Those numbers are hardly disastrous, but the Twins would still like to help out a bullpen that has been overworked at times.
“Even if we’re in the middle of the pack and our starters are giving us good length, it still will benefit us to get more,” Baldelli said.
Minnesota could certainly use more from its three young starters: Festa, Zebby Matthews and Simeon Woods Richardson. In 15 total games, the trio has averaged just 4.6 innings per start.
Asked pregame if the Twins would like to push their younger arms a bit more, Baldelli gave an unequivocal “yes.” He pointed to times it’s already happened, like Matthews’ seven-inning start May 30 in Seattle to set up an extra-inning win.
“I have to say, there will be times where we’re going to do it and we’re going to need to do it and we’re going to be excited to do it,” Baldelli said.
Minnesota tried with Festa on Thursday -- as much as possible, anyway, considering the right-hander was on a pitch count of about 80 after battling biceps inflammation in mid-May. Baldelli and the Twins envisioned quick outs, first-pitch strikes and efficient innings for Festa, but it wasn’t to be.
Festa struggled with his command from the outset, issuing two walks and throwing just 47 of his 80 pitches for strikes. His six strikeouts were a plus, but several mistake pitches, such as a poorly located fastball to Soderstrom in the third, were sent a long way.
It added up to an uncharacteristically poor day for Festa -- one he hopes to make up for.
“I need to be able to figure out the days I don’t have my good command of things and I’m falling behind,” Festa said. “I need to find a way to still perform, and I didn’t today.”