Direction of the Twins' starting staff appears to be in good hands

The five-man rotation, when healthy, could be really, really good for years to come.

Minnesota Twins pitcher David Festa throws to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fourth inning at Chase Field in Phoenix on Thursday, June 27, 2024. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

The dog days of summer are upon us and after rumors entertained baseball fans ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, the push to the postseason is dragging on. For teams like the Yankees, Orioles, Phillies and Dodgers, October baseball is all but guaranteed. The top clubs have high-end starting pitchers and powerful lineups fueled by cash-infused payrolls. Fringe playoff teams like the Twins are trying to hang onto playoff hopes while overcoming injuries to key players, reduced payroll and a roster that went backwards, not forwards, at the trade deadline.

The long, arduous grind to playoff baseball rarely feels good for a Minnesota team that, just last year, snapped the longest playoff losing streak in North American professional sports history. A lot of the playoff dread can be linked to a lack of strong starting pitching. It's a problem that finally appears to be in the final stages of being solved thanks to a couple of smart trades, quality development and a pair of top-100 prospects.

When August 2025 comes around, there's a chance the Twins are feeling good with a starting rotation featuring Pablo Lopez, Bailey Ober, Joe Ryan, David Festa and Zebby Matthews. Four of the five are in the 2024 starting rotation, with Ryan the exception as his regular season is over because of a triceps injury. But if Ober's development continues and Festa and Matthews are who experts think they are, the Twins can feel good about all five members of the starting rotation for the long haul.

Lopez and Ryan were acquired via trades. It cost the Twins batting champ Luis Arraez to land Lopez, who is one of the best strikeout arms in the American League. He's had some down moments and bad luck this season, but he's found his groove with eight consecutive strong outings.

Ryan has proved to be a really good No. 2-3 option in the rotation. Ober was quietly putting himself in the Cy Young conversation until the Braves lit him up in hist most recent start. Long term, Ober should be profiled as the intimidating right-hander who had Phillies star Bryce Harper wishing AL Central teams "good luck" after facing Ober during spring training.

Festa and Matthews could be really good in the short and long term. Both are top-100 prospects and both have looked the part in limited work at the MLB level this season.

Festa is racking up strikeouts and if he can start missing more bats with his fastball, he'll be nearly impossible to hit with his strong changeup and slider. According to Baseball Savant, opponents are hitting .304 against Festa's 95 mph fastball but only .200 against his changeup and .203 versus his slide. And his changeup comes with a 41.7% whiff rate.

David Festa, Filthy 88mph Changeup. 👌 pic.twitter.com/pvlh8DO2G8

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 29, 2024

Matthews rocketed up the minor leagues before being thrust into the Twins' rotation in July. He was so good in his recent start against the Cardinals that St. Louis manager Oli Marmol raved about him after the game.

“That’s a really good arm,” Marmol said. “That’s impressive what he was doing with the baseball and the ride on it. You’ve got to be doing something if you punch out those guys on a fastball."

Marmol said Matthews has a "live arm" and that "that guy right there, that was impressive."

Considering the fact that the Twins have a deep and relatively young group of position players who when healthy help generate a ton of offense, Minnesota's future should be really bright if Lopez, Ober, Ryan, Festa and Matthews are who we think they are.