Marco Raya (RHP), 2023 Age: 20
Raya, a 4th round selection out of Laredo, TX had an eye-opening age-19 season in 2022 where he posted 65 innings in the FSL (A). He punched out 76 batters while allowing 23 free passes, 47 hits, and 8 homers against him.
Raya has a lean, medium build and plus athleticism. He has a compact arm circle along with a quick arm in general. The delivery overall is simple and repeatable and his plus athleticism compliments that well.
His fastball (4s) sits 93-95 MPH and multiple scouts I spoke with who saw him in person last year reported him routinely touching 97. The heater has carry up in the zone and he isn’t afraid to challenge hitters with the offering.
The right-hander has a slider that has minimal depth but covers significant horizontal ground while consistently showing teeth and late bite. The horizontal break gives right-handed hitters fits, and it has sharp enough and late enough break to be more than effective against left-handed hitters too. Raya shows advanced feel for landing the offering in the zone and purposely expanding to induce chases. The slider with its sharp teeth and Raya’s advanced feel has the makings of a plus breaker in the future.
Also in his arsenal is a power changeup that he throws with fastball arm speed and shows promising feel for. When it is at its best, the offering has late bottom action that can slip under bats. Also very encouraging, in my video looks he is already comfortable using the change against same-side batters and doesn’t limit himself to utilizing only against left-handers. I see the plus potential for Raya’s cambio as he continues to develop.
Raya’s curveball has deep 12/6 shape and will flash quality spin, but the breaking ball tends to come out of his hand high and early which makes it more identifiable to hitters in the box. It’s an offering that is inconsistent in terms of ability to locate and the consistency of tightness it has. As his career progresses, the curveball will be an effective offering for him, especially due to the change of pace element it provides in contrast to the rest of his arsenal, but it won’t be a go-to offering for him.
David Festa (RHP), 2023 Age: 23
A 13th round pick out of Seton Hall University in 2021, Festa really put his name on the map in 2022 after tossing 103.2 innings between A and A+ ball where he punched out 108 and walked 34 on his way to a 2.43 ERA.
Festa has a very lean 6’6 frame that has obvious potential for adding strength going forward, which likely will yield future velocity gains. Festa works with a rhythmic NWU, a high leg lift, ½ turn, and online stride down the slope. Festa creates plus deception with his compact arm circle that hides the ball for an extended period from batters before releasing from his OH slot.
Festa’s four-seam fastball sits in the mid-90’s at present but plays above that velocity due to the above-mentioned deception and above-average carry on the pitch. He works in the upper part of the zone frequently where the offering plays best and where he generates the majority of his swings and misses.
Festa also features a hard slider in his pitch mix that typically sits 86-88 MPH and when he has it working will show two-plane shape with late tilt and plenty of bite. It’s an offering that projects to above average in the future, but he does have a ways to go in terms of consistency with the feel and shape of the pitch.
Festa’s bread-and-butter secondary pitch is his changeup. He sells it well with fastball arm speed to give an extra element of deception and the late depth the offering has generates frequent whiffs. As is the case with Marco Raya, Festa utilizes the pitch against both RH and LH batters and shows advanced feel for the changeup overall. Festa’s change has the potential to be a true plus-pitch for him in the future.
Raya and Festa both go about getting outs and missing bats in different ways despite sharing a similar pitch-mix on paper. Multiple people who I trust greatly are especially high on these two arms and saw them multiple times in 2022. From all the video I was able to track down of them, it’s apparent they both posses the potential to fill a rotation spot in the future. Raya has the higher ceiling for me but a fan of both nonetheless.