Matt Festa
Matthew Festa (born March 11, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). Career. Festa attended St. Joseph by the Sea High School in Staten Island, New York. He enrolled at Dominican College, where he played college baseball for the Dominican Chargers for one year, and transferred to East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, where he played college baseball for the East Stroudsburg Warriors for three years. The Seattle Mariners selected him in the seventh round, with the 207th overall selection, of the 2016 MLB draft. In 2016, Festa pitched for  the Everett AquaSox of the Low-A Northwest League, posting a 6–2 win–loss record with a 3.73 earned run average (ERA) in 14 games (eight starts). Festa pitched for the Modesto Nuts of the High-A California League in 2017, where he went 4–2 with a 3.23 ERA with 99 strikeouts in innings pitched, and appeared in the league's all-star game. In 2018, the Mariners invited Festa to spring training. He began the regular season with the Arkansas Travelers of the Double-A Texas League, and the Mariners promoted him to the major leagues on July 14 . Festa made the Mariners' Opening Day roster in 2019. Festa was sent down to Triple-A multiple times during the season, ending his 2019 season with just 20 appearances for Seattle. On February 3, 2020, Festa was designated for assignment and outrighted on February 10. On March 5, 2020, Festa underwent Tommy John surgery, ending his 2020 season before it began. He returned to action in August 2021 for the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, and tossed 21.1 innings of 2.95 ERA ball for the team, also appearing in 4 rehab games with the High-A Everett AquaSox and AZL Mariners . On April 7, 2022, the Mariners selected Festa's contract, adding him to their opening day roster.