Cubs designate Matt Festa for assignment

The Cubs announced Tuesday that they’ve designated right-hander Matt Festa for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to new closer Ryan Pressly, whose acquisition from the Astros has now been officially announced by both teams.

A former seventh-round pick by the Rangers, Festa has bounced around the league in journeyman fashion over the past few years. He broke into the majors with a strong rookie showing in a small sample of 8 1/3 innings for the 2018 Mariners and posted terrific Triple-A numbers the following season while also struggling in 22 MLB frames. Tommy John surgery wiped out Festa’s entire 2020 campaign and most of his 2021 season as well.

Festa returned in 2022 to throw 54 solid innings out of the Seattle ’pen, logging a 4.17 ERA but with a terrific 29.2% strikeout rate against a solid 8.2% walk rate. He’s never been a particularly hard thrower, but that blend of inducing whiffs and limiting walks showed genuine promise. Injuries popped up again in 2023, however. Festa was limited to nine big league innings and just 34 frames in Triple-A. He walked an alarming 27.9% of his opponents in the majors, prompting him to be cut loose from Seattle’s roster at season’s end.

Festa latched on with the Padres on a minor league deal in the offseason. He wound up landing with the Mets and Rangers on subsequent minor league deals and pitching well enough to earn a decent major league look in Texas, where he tossed 22 2/3 innings of 4.17 ERA ball with a 25% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate. His lone appearance with the Mets (four runs in one inning) ballooned his ERA to 5.70 on the season, but Festa was a solid enough middle relief arm with the Rangers that the Cubs picked him up for cash earlier this winter when he was designated for assignment by Texas.

The Cubs will now have five days to trade Festa themselves. If there’s no taker, he’ll be placed on outright waivers. He’s been outrighted once in the past, so if Festa does clear, he’ll have the opportunity to elect free agency if he chooses.