The Cleveland Guardians are in the middle of a very busy part of the schedule.
More games condensed in a very short period, with few days off, means that more fresh arms are needed to cover innings.
The Guardians, who will play their sixth game in the last five days and their 15th in the last 16, are constantly looking for fresh pitchers.
In the last week, they made several roster moves to use multiple minor-league arms.
They need more, though, so they went out and executed a trade with the Texas Rangers on Wednesday morning.
“Guardians acquired RHP Matt Festa from the Rangers for cash. He signed a Minor League deal with Texas in February and is being assigned to Triple-A Columbus,” team insider Tim Stebbins posted on X.
Guardians acquired RHP Matt Festa from the Rangers for cash. He signed a Minor League deal with Texas in February and is being assigned to Triple-A Columbus.
Slade Cecconi will start for Columbus tonight to begin a rehab assignment.
— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) April 30, 2025
Right now, Festa doesn’t occupy a spot on the 40-man roster.
That could change if Cleveland needs him, which is bound to happen eventually because the Guardians’ next day off is on May 8th.
Festa, not to be mistaken for Minnesota Twins pitcher David Festa, is enjoying a fantastic start to the season in the minor leagues and should be a useful piece for the Guardians.
In 14.2 frames in the Rangers’ Triple-A team, he has an immaculate 0.00 ERA with seven walks and 20 strikeouts.
Festa, 32, has 117.1 innings of MLB experience and boasts a 4.60 ERA.
He is a fastball-cutter-slider guy whose heater usually sits in the 91-92 mph range.
With the right tools, he is a perfectly fine organizational arm who could very well help Cleveland navigate through the really demanding stretches of the season.
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