Nick Pivetta

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Nicholas Johncarlo Pivetta

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Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Nick Pivetta was a 4th-round selection by the Washington Nationals in the 2013 amateur draft, out of a junior college in New Mexico. The scout was Mitch Sokol. However, Pivetta is a native of Victoria, BC and went to high school there. He was a member of the Canadian Junior National Team that took part in the 2010 World Junior Championship in Thunder Bay, ON, a team that finished fourth as the host nation of the tournament. He had one save in three games, allowing two runs (one earned) in 3 1/3 IP and striking out four.

The Canadian youngster was assigned to the GCL Nationals to begin his career and also pitched for the Auburn Doubledays of the New York-Penn League that first season, going 1-1, 2.91 in 9 games. He spent 2014 with the Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League where he made 26 appearances, 25 as a starter, pitching 132 1/3 innings. His record was 13-8, 4.22. He tied A.J. Cole for the most wins in the Nationals chain. He was third in the SAL in wins, behind Antonio Senzatela and Johendi Jiminian.

In 2015, he began the year in the Carolina League, going 7-4, 2.29 in 15 games for the Potomac Nationals. On July 10th, he was promoted to the Harrisburg Senators of the AA Eastern League. He went 0-2, 7.20 in his first three starts before being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies on July 28th in return for closer Jonathan Papelbon. In the 2017 World Baseball Classic, he started against Colombia and dueled Julio Teheran evenly through four innings; Ryan Kellogg took over with a 1-1 tie and could not hold on. He was Canada's only effective starter in that WBC as they leaned too much on washed-up Ryan Dempster due to a lack of other options.

Pivetta made his major league debut for the Phillies in April of 2017 and remained in the starting rotation for the rest of the season, making 26 starts with a record of 8-10, 6.02. He allowed 144 hits in 130 innings, but also struck out 140 batters. He was back in the starting rotation in 2018, but the Phillies were now competitive, and more was expected of him. On June 29th, he was chased from a game early, allowing 7 runs in 1 2/3 innings in a start against the Washington Nationals, being saddled with a 17-7 loss that left him with a record of 4-7. However, two days later, on Canada Day, he got a measure of redemption, as he volunteered to go to the bullpen as the Phils' game against the Nats moved deep into extra innings. He was brought in to pitch the 13th and gave manager Gabe Kapler a scoreless inning with the score tied at 3. His turn to bat came up in the bottom of the inning and Kapler took a gamble, sending back-up C Andrew Knapp to pinch-hit for him, knowing full well he had no more pitchers left and would have to ask a position player to pitch if Philadelphia failed to score. However, Knapp came through with a walk-off homer and Pivetta was a winner in what was the first relief appearance of his big league career. He ended the season at 7-14, 4.77 with 188 strikeouts in 164 games, but his inability to put up a better record in spite of pitching in front of a decent team was a concern.

In 2019, he took a step backwards, losing his spot in the starting rotation as he finished at 4-6, 5.38 in 30 games. He made 13 starts before being banished to a role as a long reliever. He continued to post good strikeout numbers, with 89 in 93 2/3 innings, but otherwise, his lack of improvement was a head-scratcher as there did not seem to be anything physically wrong with him. In 2020, with the Phils hoping to contend for a division title, he had become an afterthought, seeing little work from the back of the bullpen. Over the team's first 20 games, he appeared only 3 times, but gave up 10 runs on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings, part of a bullpen that was a collective disaster. It was clear he needed a change of scenery and on August 21st he was sent to the Boston Red Sox along with prospect Connor Seabold in return for two experienced relievers in Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman. He was now joining a team in desperate need of starting pitching. After spending a month at Boston's alternate training site, he made two starts for Boston and won them both, allowing just 2 runs in 10 innings, indicating that maybe he should have been inserted in the starting rotation immediately.

He did turn things around after joining the BoSox. On June 24, 2021, Pivetta threw 6 2/3 innings of no-hit ball against the Tampa Bay Rays, he was pulled from the game after throwing more than 100 pitches, unable to complete the no-hitter. He was relieved by Josh Taylor. The Red Sox would eventually lose the no-hitter and the game. He went 9-8, 4.53 in 31 games that season, all but one of them starts, with 175 strikeouts in 155 innings. In the postseason, he was used in long relief and was very good. He gave the Red Sox 4 2/3 innings of solid work in Game 1 of the Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays on October 7th after Eduardo Rodriguez failed to complete the 2nd inning, then in Game 3 on October 10th, he came in as Boston's seventh pitcher of the evening in the 10th inning with the score tied at 4-4, and put up goose eggs for the next four innings while striking out 7. He received credit for the 6-4 win when Christian Vazquez hit a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning. He did get to start a game in the ALCS, getting the ball for Game 4 against the Houston Astros on October 19th. He put in another solid performance, allowing just 1 run in 5 innings and leaving with a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, the bullpen gave up a run in the 8th and a disastrous 7 in the 9th, as the final 9-2 score did not reflect the fact that the game had been a tense pitchers' duel until the end.

In 2022, he was in double figured in wins for the first time of his career as he went 10-12, 4.56 for Boston, his 33 starts being tied for the American League lead. he pitched a career-high 179 2/3 innings that season and struck out 175 batters. he was once again in double figures in win in 2023, finishing at 10-8 as he was used as a swingman, making 16 starts and relieving in another 22 games. His ERA was 4.04 - his lowest in a full season - and his peripheral numbers were also quite good: 110 hits allowed in 142 2/3 innings, with 183 strikeouts. He had declined an opportunity to pitch for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic before the start of the season, and as had been the case in all previous editions of the tournament, the Canadians were done in by a lack of pitching depth. The Red Sox were in a tough spot in both 2022 and 2023, as with the rise of the Baltimore Orioles, there were no weak teams in the AL East those two years, pushing the Sox to the bottom of the standings while they would have been competitive in most other divisions in the majors. In 2024, he was back to starting full-time after missing a month of action in April due to an elbow problem - a rare occurrence for someone who had been among the most durable pitchers in the majors his entire career. On July 4th, he put in the longest bid for an Independence Day no-hitter since Dave Righetti had pitched one against the Red Sox back in 1983: in a start against the Miami Marlins, he did not give up a hit until the 7th inning, and left after seven scoreless frames, having allowed just that one hit and two walks while striking out ten. However, he only had a 2-0 lead, which the Marlins erased in the 8th, and the game was only decided after 12 innings, a 6-5 win for Boston.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Paige Leckie: "Pivetta flirts with no-no, Red Sox band together to complete sweep: Boston pulls out 12th-inning victory thanks O'Neill's clutch RBI double", mlb.com, July 4, 2024. [1]

Related Sites[edit]

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