David Festa’s season is headed for surgery before it ever really got started.
The Twins right-hander will have operations on his shoulder and pectoral muscle tomorrow, according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic. One procedure will deal with a shoulder impingement, while the other is meant to ease symptoms of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome.
That lines up with what Minnesota general manager Jeremy Zoll said last week, when he indicated Festa was likely to miss the entire season. The surgeries make that official.
Festa has been dealing with shoulder trouble since last year, and he met with a thoracic outlet specialist as early as September 2025. At that point, doctors diagnosed a compressed nerve and he was able to avoid going under the knife.
The injury issues followed him into this year’s Spring Training build-up, and he still hasn’t thrown a regular season pitch since last July.
Before the injuries piled up, Festa was viewed as one of the organization’s better pitching prospects. The Seton Hall product has appeared in 25 big league games and owns a 5.12 ERA across 117 2/3 innings. He’s struck out more than a quarter of the hitters he’s faced and has posted a solid 8.3% walk rate, but the home run ball has repeatedly worked against him.
Minnesota has had Festa on the 60-day injured list all season. At the start of the offseason, he’ll need to be reinstated to the 40-man roster or exposed to waivers. Given his prospect background, the Twins are likely to keep him around through the winter and hope for better health in 2027.
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