PHOENIX — The Twins should get a glimpse of their future on Thursday afternoon with their top pitching prospect, David Festa, expected to make his major league debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Festa was scratched from his scheduled start on Wednesday for the Triple-A St. Paul Saints in anticipation of slotting into Chris Paddack’s spot in the rotation on Thursday. Paddack went on the injured list with shoulder fatigue on Tuesday

Manager Rocco Baldelli said before Wednesday night’s game that he would announce Thursday’s starter postgame.

Festa, 24, has posted a 3.77 earned-run average with the Saints and boasts a strikeout rate that’s among the best in the minor leagues, fanning 13.1 batters per nine innings. His 87 strikeouts are second among Triple-A pitchers this season.

Festa, whom the Twins selected in the 13th round of the 2021 draft, has had an interesting path to this point. The right-hander didn’t become a pitcher until his senior year of high school in New Jersey, originally committing to Seton Hall University as an infielder.

“My mom wanted me to go play shortstop, but I was like, honestly, my bat dwindled away,” Festa said in March. “I was like I think just for giving myself the best chance, I think pitching would be the right idea.”

In Festa’s third and final season at Seton Hall, he went 6-4 with a 2.00 ERA and struck out 67 batters in 72 innings.

Festa rose through the Twins’ farm system and put himself in a spot where he is now a top-100 prospect, checking in at No. 99 on MLB Pipeline’s list.

“When I saw him, it was guaranteed 10 punchouts,” said Twins utility player Austin Martin, who was his teammate at Triple-A. “ … From the outings I’ve seen, he’s got the stuff. Every time he goes out there, he competes, he takes everything very serious. He’s very meticulous with his work.”

The Twins will need to make a 26-man roster move to add Festa. The starter is not currently on the 40-man roster, but the Twins currently have an open spot that he will fill.

See ball, hit ball

Byron Buxton is heating up.

The Twins center fielder had three hits on Tuesday night against the Diamondbacks. He had two the day before — both for extra bases — against the Athletics.
He entered Wednesday night’s game with hits in 10 of his last 12 games, hitting .372 in that stretch.

“Mechanics felt fine all year. It’s just getting into a good position to hit and just not overthink it,” Buxton said. “Just thinking a lot. It’s hard to go in there and hit. Just trying to simplify it. It took longer than I expected, but it’s good to feel good the last few days squaring the ball up.”

Buxton often describes his approach when he’s going well as simple. See ball, hit ball, he always, always says.

“Stay in the zone and stay within yourself and don’t try to overdo it,” Buxton said. “Think that allows me to slow the ball down a little bit and have a little bit more quality at-bats.”

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The St. Paul Saints extended their road winning streak to nine games with a roller-coaster 9-7 victory over the Iowa Cubs on Wednesday in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Saints won for the 13th time in their past 14 games and are 2-0 in the second half of the American Association’s International League season.

St. Paul trailed 5-2 after the fourth inning but came back with two runs in the fifth inning and four runs in the sixth.

Brooks Lee continued his torrid start to his season by delivering a one-out homer to right in the fifth, his second in as many games and sixth of the season, getting the Saints to within 5-3. Lee is hitting .338 in 16 games with the Saints and .358 overall.

Matt Wallner doubled to right and Yunior Severino knocked him home with a single to center to make it 5-4. Severino finished the day 3 for 4 with two RBIs.

The Saints sent nine men to the plate in the sixth. A bases-loaded walk to Edouard Julien forced in a run, tying the game at five. Lee followed with a run-scoring groundout. After a strikeout and an intentional walk to load the bases, DaShawn Keirsey Jr. hit a pop-up that drifted away from shortstop Jack Reinheimer and fell to the ground for a two-run double, increasing the lead to 8-5.

It was a bullpen day for the Saints’ pitching. Ryan Jensen started and went two innings, allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts. Hobie Harris followed, allowing three runs on five hits. Scott Blewett then pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with four strikeouts.

Josh Winder closed out the game with 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit while striking out one and walking one. He allowed a leadoff single in the ninth but retired the next three batters to pick up his third save of the season.

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Stillwater will hold a citywide cleanup day next month featuring dozens of volunteer opportunities to help get rid of graffiti in the downtown area.

Volunteers will be asked to tackle the scrubbing off and painting over of graffiti on utility boxes, light poles, walls and dumpsters, said Sgt. Josh Gow of the Stillwater Police Department, who is organizing the event.

Volunteers who sign up for one of two slots – 8 a.m. to noon or 1 to 5 p.m. July 14 – will receive a punch card for prizes or discounts at 10 downtown businesses; the deadline to sign up is 6 p.m. July 8, Gow said.

Among the prizes offered: A free small bag of Chicago mix popcorn from Candyland; a free beer or rail cocktail at either Brian’s Bar and Grill, Freight House or Stillwater Proper, or 25 percent off a purchase at Gullywubbles.

“There is old graffiti that has been there for at least 20 years, and it’s being layered on with new graffiti,” Gow said. “It’s become pretty prevalent this year. It’s all different tags. It’s becoming a problem.”

Volunteers will use Elephant Snot, a product made by North St. Paul-based Graffiti Solutions Inc., to remove the graffiti, he said. “It’s a gentle, environmentally friendly clean-up solution,” he said. “One of the captains checked with the Washington County Historical Society, and this won’t damage the historic buildings.”

Crews from Stillwater Public Works will be on hand with mobile pressure washers to assist with the clean up, he said.

City officials hope the cleanup day will become an annual event, and that volunteer crews in the future will tackle litter, weeds, debris and graffiti in city parks and playgrounds and along frontage roads, Gow said.

Volunteers must complete a 20-minute training session at the start of their shift. Participating volunteers will receive a wristband on arrival and a punch card at the end of the session, he said.

Anyone interested in volunteering is asked to contact Gow at jgow@stillwatermn.gov. The email must contain the name of the volunteer, birthdate, phone number, emergency contact number and preferred time slot; a liability waiver will be provided and must be signed and completed in order to participate, he said.

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