In case it hasn’t become clear, we don’t have a real rhyme or reason to the order of these season reviews. So, today, we cover the Guardians’ intrepid reliever, Matt Festa.
In September, I wrote what was
probably my personal favorite post of the year defending the idea that Festa is Good, Actually. The Guardians acquired Festa on April 30th, 2025 from the Texas Rangers for cash considerations. Festa then pitched 54.2 innings for Cleveland and put up a 3.14 FIP, a 3.45 xERA, a 3.71 xFIP and a 4.12 ERA with a 9.22/2.47 K/BB%. Festa only pitched once in the playoffs but didn’t give up a run and struck out a batter. I actually think Festa should have pitched more vs. Detroit and reduced the Tigers’ chances of seeing Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski so many times in short succession.
Matt Festa is not what I would describe as a high leverage arm. He isn’t someone you bring in for the middle of the order in the 7th, 8th or 9th inning in a playoff game. But, he is someone who can comfortably pitch the 6th and/or 7th innings for you throughout the regular season. The one significant change the Guardians made with Festa was encouraging him to use a sinker he’d abandoned in 2022. Seemingly, this helped keep hitters from sitting on his fastball. Festa threw his fastball 39% of the time, his sinker 8% of the time, his cutter 15% of the time and his slider 38% of the time. Only his cutter was below average in run value, all pitches graded out as around average except his sweeper which was slightly above average by Stuff+ (104 with 100 being average). The Guardians and Festa managed to add about an inch more of vertical break on Festa’s sweeper. Without a dominant pitch, Festa isn’t a pitcher you want going much further than one inning at a time, and he isn’t a pitcher who should primarily be used as a “fireman” (something manager Stephen Vogt was unfortunately forced to try once Emmanuel Clase was put on leave). But, he is someone a team can feel really great about putting in with as clean a slate as possible in the 6th or 7th innings.
Festa is pitchable against left-handed pitching – 4.07 FIP vs. lefties in 2025 – but he should be leveraged against a heavily right-handed portion of the lineup whenever possible – 2.37 FIP vs. RHH in 2025. One of the big needs for the Guardians in the offseason will be to identify their “fireman” for 2026. Cade Smith used to occupy that role – jumping in the game any time a fire needed to be immediately doused by a dominant relief arm – but he is now set to be the team’s closer. Sabrowski, being a left-hander, is probably better used in a set-up role mostly against lefties, and Gaddis doesn’t quite have the swing and miss stuff to be a great fireman. I’d caution the Guardians’ front office and Stephen Vogt that while they got away – mostly – with using Festa in the role throughout the second half of 2025, they need to identify an alternate solution and let Festa be a very good middle-relief option instead.
Something to monitor with Festa this offseason, assuming the team tenders him for a very reasonable contract set to be around $1.5 millio, will be to see if the team can help him refine his sinker. If Festa could get a little more confidence with the pitch and increase its vertical drop, it could really help his ability to get strikeouts and groundballs when played off his fastball. Also, if there is the chance to get a little more break on the sweeper, that should help both the cutter and sweeper play up. Here’s a strikeout on the cutter and then on the sweeper for comparison:
Get Festa in the pitching lab here next month or so and see if you can bump the strikeout totals a little bit while maintaining his career low walk-rate from this year and it could get pretty exciting for this underrated bullpen arm. Overall, he seems like another good human being and teammate. I hope to see him solidly in the circle of trust for the 6th and 7th innings in the Guardians’ 2026 bullpen. If you’ve got a non-descript reliever and the Cleveland front office comes a-calling, maybe think twice before you say “yes,” next time. Or, don’t! We’ll take all the live arms we can find for cash.
