At one point this season, the Red Sox had too many starting pitchers on their roster. That has since changed due to the injuries to Chris Sale, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock. Despite the Sox needing another starter to give them quality innings, right-hander Nick Pivetta is not an option to occupy his old role in the rotation.
Pivetta’s early season performance out of the rotation ultimately led him into the bullpen to serve in a bulk innings type reliever.
That has been the best thing for both Pivetta and the Red Sox.
Pivetta has shined in his new role and prior to Friday night’s dominant outing against the Athletics, he posted a 2.63 ERA while recording 31 strikeouts in 24 relief innings.
As a starter, Pivetta owns a 6.30 ERA in eight starts this season.
The right-hander gave the Sox five strong innings shutting down the Athletics lineup. He gave up just four hits and three runs (two earned) while fanning eight batters.
With the Sox rotation depleted and in need of quality arms to start, Alex Cora isn’t prepared to move Pivetta back as a starter.
Nick Pivetta, K'ing the Side. pic.twitter.com/sJNMl1RjJf
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 8, 2023
“He’s getting his innings and he’s dominating,” said Cora. “I think the last thing we have to worry about is him becoming a starter. He’s going to get a lot of outs and he knows it. When? It’s just a matter of what the game dictates. … He’s not going to start. He’s not going to start.”
Cora intends to stretch out Pivetta so he can give them more length in a game. Friday night’s appearance was a prime example of the Sox’ skipper maximizing Pivetta deeper into the ballgame.
“You cannot go five innings, six innings right away with him,” Cora said. “You have to be careful because we have to stretch him out. Even the other day when he went four, you can see toward the end that it was a grind. The last time he pitched here (at Fenway on June 28), he walked (two). It’s not that easy like, ‘Oh, here we go, Nick, you’re a starter!’ We have to make sure, if that’s the route we’re going, we have to build him up. Every outing has been an extra inning — two, three, four. I think, physically, he can do it, but you’ve got to be careful.”
Cora feels that Pivetta’s pitch mix plays better out of the bullpen. Pivetta threw 76 pitches, 42 of them four-seam fastballs, 19 curveballs, 11 slides and four sweepers. His fastball topped out at 96.6 mph while picking up 22 swings and seven whiffs with the pitch.
“I just went out there, pounded the strike zone and got ahead of guys,” Pivetta said. “Nothing different, just commanding my pitches and using my breaking ball when needed to get ahead of guys.”
Pivetta has embraced his role this season and has had an open mindset pitching in relief.
“I think people were going to make a big deal out of (the move to the bullpen), like he was going to go out there and pout,” Cora said. “What’s he going to do, not pitch? If he wants innings, he’s got to pitch better and I think he’s been able to attack and relax a little bit with the different mindset. We like this version of Nick.”
John Schreiber Begins Rehab
Red Sox reliever John Schreiber began a rehab assignment with the WooSox on Friday night.
The right-hander threw 2/3 innings while walking a batter following WooSox starter Norwith Gudiño (3-4) who tossed five strong innings.
“Felt good tonight, right where I want to be on my first rehab assignment,” Schreiber told reporters postgame in Worcester. ”Pitch shapes were good, command could be a little better with certain pitches and counts but felt good with the results.”
Schreiber has been on the mend since May 16 with a terse major strain.
This is the first of two rehab appearances that he is set to make with Worcester this weekend. His next appearance is expected to come on Sunday afternoon.
Schreiber has been an important late-inning reliever for Cora’s bullpen. He’s posted a 2.12 ERA (17 innings, four earned runs) and 1.29 WHIP in 18 relief outings this season. He has posted a 2.22 ERA in 83 outings (85 innings) for the Red Sox from 2021-23. Once healthy, he will provide a massive lift to the bullpen which has pitched well during his absence.
The injury occurred back on May 14 when he left the game while facing the Mariners in the top of the seventh inning.
Tanner Houck to begin throwing on July 11
Tanner Houck was hit in the face with a line drive causing a facial fracture nearly three weeks ago. The Sox righty had two metal plates installed into his face to repair the fracture and is now inching closer to baseball activities.
Houck has been cleared to begin throwing on July 11 after meeting with his doctors for a follow-up appointment.
“He started his workouts but he has to build up... He has been moving around,” Cora said. “Arm-wise, we feel confident that it’s not too far off, and that we can actually ramp up his stuff.
“I don’t know how we’re going to do it,” he continued. “There’s a lot of scenarios that we can go through, like short reliever, long reliever, starter or whatever. We’ll get there when we get there. The good thing is he’s going to be able to start doing his baseball stuff soon and we can get him sooner rather than later.”
Houck has only appeared as a starter this season, making 13 starts for the Sox. Cora wouldn’t commit to whether or not Houck will return as a starter or a reliever when he is ready to return.
“We’ll see where we’re at,” Cora said. “We like him as a starter but let’s see how we get there.”