Boston Red Sox: Nick Pivetta coming up aces
The starting rotation for the Boston Red Sox has provided a steady hand in the first quarter of the 2021 season. Starters one through five — plus the occasional spot starter mixed in — have performed solidly, albeit rarely in the same week.
Carrying the rotation early, Eduardo Rodriguez and Nathan Eovaldi got off to strong starts while Martin Perez and Garrett Richards struggled. Roles have reversed as of late, with the former duo struggling while the latter duo has been mowing down the opposition.
One constant, however, has been the play of Nick Pivetta. He’s been dealing so far and has been the ace for Boston in the team’s first 41 games.
A great acquisition for the Boston Red Sox
Pivetta (5-0, 3.16 ERA) was acquired last August from the Philadelphia Phillies in part of a trade that sent Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree from Boston. (Funny enough, Workman is back in the Red Sox organization, signed recently to a minor league contract).
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Pivetta had struggled in Philadelphia but made two outstanding starts for the Red Sox last September. He picked up two wins, striking out 13 in 10 innings while only allowing two earned runs.
The strikeouts this season haven’t been quite up to levels we’ve seen from him, but Pivetta basically continued right where he left off. He was expected to fill a pivotal role with Boston this season and so far has exceeded expectations.
Pivetta has made eight starts, going at least five innings in all but one. He’s tossed 42.2 innings, striking out 42 in this span. He allowed only one hit over five innings against the New York Mets earlier this season, a game the Red Sox ultimately won 1-0.
Boston has only lost once in which games Pivetta has pitched this season, thanks in large part to the run support backing Boston’s pitchers.
It certainly helped Pivetta in his first three starts as Boston scored 32 runs in those games. However, support has dwindled slightly as the Red Sox have scored 25 in his last five starts, 11 of which came in one game.
One downside has been the walks issued by Pivetta as he’s averaging nearly three free passes per start. But an encouraging sign was his most recent outing against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. This was a no-decision in which Pivetta allowed four hits and two earned runs over six innings while issuing zero walks and striking out seven.
Next. Boston Red Sox: Nick Pivetta the starting rotation wild card. dark
More outings like this would be nice from Pivetta. That is not to say he hasn’t been doing well this season. He’s responded with grit and focus when he does have command issues and Boston is backing him up to still win games. And as long as this is happening, there are plenty of reasons to keep on smiling and to keep on dealing.