FORT MYERS, FLA. – David Festa drew a few swings-and-misses with his sinker, a new pitch for him, during live batting practice sessions, but that isn't the reason he added the pitch.

Festa won't complain if his sinker draws whiffs, but it's designed to create weak contact. Combined with his four-seam fastball, which he often throws at the top of the strike zone, his slider and his changeup, he expects to be better equipped to face righthanded batters.

An issue for Festa, a righthanded pitcher, was he didn't locate his four-seam fastball well on the inside part of the plate to righties. They hit .260 against him with a .773 OPS, surprisingly even better than lefties hit him (.233 batting average, .722 OPS).

"Sometimes when I missed, [fastballs] were out and over [the plate], and they were able to barrel up some balls," said Festa, who is listed at 6-6, 185 pounds. "Getting the sinker in will open up some other avenues for myself."

Festa, who will turn 25 next month, impressed the Twins during his debut last year. In his final 12 outings, he logged a 3.81 ERA with 69 strikeouts and 22 walks over 54â…“ innings. The downside is he posted a 1-5 record during that stretch, infrequently pitching a third time through the batting order during a playoff race.

"This little sinker, I'm just throwing it like a fastball and it's doing its thing," said Festa, who no longer throws a curveball that he experimented with in the minor leagues. "That's why I'm able to learn that part of it so far. I just need to do a better job of commanding it."

There are a lot of pitchers across the majors who are adding a second fastball, whether it's a sinker or a cutter. Pitching coach Pete Maki termed it "fastball versatility."

About seven years ago, the biggest trend among major league pitchers was throwing four-seam fastballs at the top of the strike zone. With hitters gearing up for homers, and taking steeper launch angles on their swings, it was a hole for pitchers to exploit.

"We were trying to get carry" on fastballs, Maki said. "The hitters have adjusted over time. There are just more guys every year identifying it, identifying what is a ball, and not swinging when it's just a ball above the zone. They've gotten better at it over the years and getting flatter [swings] to the top of the zone. Yeah, the sinker has come back. It's not a secret."

Festa may be the odd man out of the Twins' rotation if all their starters remain healthy throughout camp. Pablo López, Bailey Ober, Joe Ryan and Chris Paddack are locks in the rotation. That leaves Simeon Woods Richardson, Festa and Zebby Matthews competing for the last spot, and Woods Richardson is the favorite for it.

"I just need to control the controllables and just worry about what I can do internally," Festa said. "We have a ton of talent here, and I know that. I'm looking forward to competing. I just need to worry about myself.

"This game is really hard. If I'm going to go out there and worry about this and that, it'll make the game a whole lot harder. If I can just worry about what I need to do, I think I'll be in a good spot."

Etc.

• Ryan was scheduled to pitch two "innings" during his live batting practice session Friday, but he stopped after one. "I was just feeling a little weird today, so we just cut it short today and get some stuff ironed out," said Ryan, who plans to start pitching in spring training games in about a week. "I'm feeling good, though. All the pitches are feeling good."

• Matthews will be the Twins' Grapefruit League opening day starter. He's scheduled to pitch against Atlanta on Saturday at Hammond Stadium.

• Former Twins outfielder Manuel Margot showed up in camp with the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday after he agreed to a minor league deal with an invite to big-league camp.

• Edouard Julien was one of the happier players in Twins camp Friday after Canada topped the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off, 3-2 in overtime in Boston. "It's not as good as the golden goal from [Sidney] Crosby" in the 2010 Winter Olympics, "but it was pretty good," said Julien, a big hockey fan and Quebec native.