If the Twins would've saved themselves from their late-season collapse, surviving for a wild-card spot in the last week of the season, rookie starter David Festa was lined up to pitch in the first game of the postseason.

Festa, the 6-6 righthander, was the best-performing rookie in the Twins' rotation at the end of the regular season. In his last 12 outings, he posted a 3.81 ERA with 69 strikeouts and 22 walks across 54⅓ innings.

The Twins didn't lean on Festa to pitch deep into games during their playoff chase — he pitched more than five innings just once — but he represents arguably the highest upside among the club's young starters entering the 2025 season.

One Twins staffer expressed surprise Festa didn't receive more attention. There were only four major league starters who had a higher strikeout rate following the All-Star break. His 3.15 FIP (fielding independent pitching) was the eighth-best in the American League after he was called up in late July.

"There is still a ton I want to improve on, but I like the foundation that I've built so far," Festa said at the end of the season. He ended his rookie year with a 2-6 record and a 4.90 ERA over 64⅓ innings.

Festa, who will turn 25 before next season, features a three-pitch mix — fastball, slider and changeup — that he throws almost evenly, and they all generate many swings and misses. He tinkered with a curveball when he pitched at Class AAA, and he plans to explore adding a cutter or a sinker, but the Twins don't think he needs to add a fourth pitch to be a productive starter.

"The reason I'm able to be a starter with three [pitches] is I mix them pretty equally," Festa said. "If you look at my usages, the fastball might be 40%, but it's like 40-30-30. I try to make it a third of each. When I'm able to mix all three at an equal clip, it's tough for a hitter to just take one out of the picture. I think a fourth pitch, when you look at it from a long-term standpoint, it's definitely something to look at."

Said Pete Maki, the Twins' pitching coach: "As a starter, you need something going left, something going right and a heater you can put where you want."

Festa entered last season as the top-ranked pitching prospect in the organization. There were some growing pains during his three months in the big leagues — he permitted 12 runs in his first two major league starts — but he showed his potential, too.

As he surpassed a career-high innings total, he yielded 23 earned runs over his final 12 appearances, which the Twins believe is a glimpse of what he could bring in 2025.

"When the stakes were super-high, I really enjoyed it," Festa said. "Would I have liked to go longer in some outings? Yeah, but a lot of that is situational, which I totally understand. Some outings I felt good and I was dying to get the team through six innings, but I only went 4⅔ or whatever the case may be. Learning to navigate the lineup and being able to face guys the third time around in most of my outings, I thought I did a good job of learning how to do that."

Festa isn't guaranteed a spot in the Opening Day rotation next year. The Twins have three starters — Festa, Simeon Woods Richardson and Zebby Matthews — set to compete for one spot behind Pablo López, Bailey Ober, Joe Ryan and Chris Paddack, though a potential trade this winter could change that dynamic.

"The first two outings — that wasn't me. That wasn't very good," Festa said. "There were some outings where out of nowhere I had a bad inning. That's stuff I have to clean up, for sure. That's part of the learning process, but overall, I started to adapt better."