Pivetta punctuates turnaround campaign with 10-K gem

BALTIMORE -- As far as season arcs go, no Red Sox player had a more impressive one than Nick Pivetta.

The righty had a 6.30 ERA through eight starts when manager Alex Cora pulled him from the rotation in May. Upset for about a day following the demotion, Pivetta went into the skipper’s office the next day and said this, as relayed by Cora.

“I'm ready,” Pivetta told Cora. “I'm going to the bullpen today and whatever you need, I’ll do.”

And that was not lip service. Pivetta put a brilliant finishing touch on his in-season turnaround by firing seven scoreless innings (two hits, one walk, 10 strikeouts) in pitching the Red Sox to a 3-0 victory over the Orioles on Friday night at Camden Yards.

Pivetta also fired seven scoreless in his penultimate outing of 2023 against the White Sox at Fenway Park last Saturday.

When Pivetta got back to the dugout following his final inning of the season, he had a prideful smile on his face as his teammates congratulated him on a job well done.

“You know, I feel very confident, feel very happy,” Pivetta said. “Disappointed that I don't get to continue throwing. But, I'm ready to go into next year, have a good mindset and a good foundation to kind of build on, and just kind of continue moving forward.”

After refining his repertoire and dominating as a bulk reliever for the middle chunk of the season, Pivetta was rewarded by spending nearly all of September in the rotation.

Viewed as a possible non-tender candidate during those April and May struggles, Pivetta has positioned himself to be an important piece of the 2024 pitching staff for the Red Sox.

“His stuff is getting better,” Cora said. “So, I don't see why he can’t be a starter next year.”

Depending on how the offseason shakes out, Pivetta has also proved he can succeed in the hybrid role he was deployed in during the summer months.

“He's grown so much, matured so much,” Cora said. “He understands the whole team concept. He really likes it here. And it’s something that he's been loud and clear about it. He loves it here. He loves the atmosphere.”

There have been a combination of things that have helped Pivetta turn his season around. One was coming up with a second slider that had more of a horizontal break. Another was heeding the advice of veteran teammate Chris Martin.

“[Martin] talked to him about being aggressive,” Cora said. “‘Use your best pitches as much as possible. Don't waste pitches.' Kind of like, 'Attack. Be in attack mode.' As you know, the previous year and early in the season, Nick was shying away from the zone.

“So whatever Chris told Nick, it changed his season. And maybe his career.”

Pivetta agreed that Martin played an important role in his turnaround.

“Yeah, you know, Chris as a whole, he's been extraordinary for the team, as a leader, as a teammate, as a guy who goes out there and controls the strike zone, controls the situation every single time,” Pivetta said.

“I learned a lot from him, from the mental standpoint, the physical standpoint, and he helped me out a lot this year. So it was really huge.”

In 38 appearances this season, Pivetta went 10-9 with a 4.04 ERA. Over 142 2/3 innings, he notched 183 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .208 average.

Narrowing it to the final four months of the season covering 28 appearances and 97 1/3 innings, Pivetta logged 135 strikeouts and a 12.5 K/9 ratio.

Translation: Pivetta has been dealing for a while.

“Early in the season, he struggled, but he kept his head up and kept going,” Cora said. “And one thing we know, he's gonna work hard in the offseason to keep getting better.

“He should be one of the guys next year. We're talking about it. He's going to pitch important innings.”