LOS ANGELES -- A complicated season for the Twins’ starting rotation continued on Wednesday when the club placed right-hander David Festa on the 15-day injured list with what it called right shoulder inflammation. Festa becomes the third Minnesota starter currently on the IL.
Righty Travis Adams took Festa’s spot on the active roster, but a replacement in the starting rotation has not been announced. Sunday’s starting pitcher against Washington is listed as “TBA.” Most likely, Adams will serve as a bulk pitcher after an opener in that game.
“David woke up after his [Monday] outing; his shoulder was bothering him,” manager Rocco Baldelli said on Wednesday morning. “It was sore. That’s basically the gist of it. He’s going to have an MRI today. We’ll know a little bit more probably by tomorrow, and we’ll see where we’re at.”
What will not happen is an adjustment to the rehabilitation plan for fellow sidelined starter Bailey Ober. The veteran right-hander remains on track to make a second rehab start Friday for Triple-A St. Paul. Conceivably he could have been activated for a start, but the Twins do not feel that is the best course of action.
“Bailey’s situation is for the most part about Bailey,” Baldelli said. “This is professional sports, so it’s all interconnected somehow, but it’s not a situation where I think we’re going to be making drastic changes because we had another starter go on the IL. I think more would have to happen for us to be moving everybody around, including Bailey.”
That’s noteworthy because Ober seems to have recovered from the left hip impingement that sent him to the IL on July 2 (retroactive to June 29). He threw four effective innings for St. Paul last Friday. However, although his hip is apparently feeling better, Ober has not yet successfully executed the mechanical adjustments he is trying to make during the rehab.
For the Twins to make a late run at postseason contention, they will need Ober not merely able to take the mound but at the level of effectiveness he has shown for the majority of his Major League career. It is easier to make the adjustments to accomplish that on a rehab assignment than in Major League games.
“We can bring him to the big leagues and we can try to work it out in the big leagues,” Baldelli said, “or you can take this as a real opportunity to focus on the delivery and less so on the results. You can’t do that in a big league game. You’re going to be focused on the game plan and the results, and sometimes the mechanical nuances kind of maybe get pushed to the side because you have to go compete and just pitch.”
With the move for Festa, the Twins were able to wait on lefty Anthony Misiewicz for another couple of days. Misiewicz suffered discomfort in his left pectoral muscle during Tuesday night’s win, and indications were that he might be headed to the IL. That move could yet happen, but as of now, Misiewicz remains on the active roster.