Pivetta struggles vs. Atlanta with rotation shuffle on horizon

ATLANTA -- For the Red Sox, it will soon be decision time with their starting rotation.

That's because James Paxton is set to make his season debut -- and his debut for the Red Sox -- on Friday night against the Cardinals. And also because Garrett Whitlock should be ready to come back from the injured list, perhaps as early as next week.

Amid that backdrop, Nick Pivetta got roughed up in Tuesday night’s 9-3 loss to the Braves. While throwing 90 pitches over four innings, Pivetta gave up seven runs on eight hits, walking three and striking out two.

Pivetta is 2-3 with a 6.23 ERA in his seven starts this season. Red Sox manager Alex Cora said the righty will make his next start at Fenway next Tuesday against Seattle.

“Today from the first pitch, it looked like he was a little off,” said Cora. “He wasn’t able to put guys away in a few at-bats with two strikes. Didn’t put them away, and it was one of those where we just move on and be ready for the next one.”

Pivetta expressed some surprise when asked by a reporter if he felt that his start was like an audition.

“I don't really understand what you're saying,” said Pivetta. “But I'm just continuing to go out and do my job. I’ve started for this team my whole entire [time with the Red Sox]. I'm going to continue to do that. By the end of the year, I'm going to continue to do that my next year and year in and year out.”

Cora isn’t divulging how the club will proceed with the upcoming logjam in the rotation. One possibility is that Brayan Bello, who is pitching Wednesday against the Braves, could get optioned to Triple-A Worcester for the second time this season. However, Cora indicated that Bello is still scheduled to start in the finale of the next homestand against Seattle on May 17.

The other pitchers in the rotation are Chris Sale, Corey Kluber and Tanner Houck.

While going with a six-man rotation could be an option at busier times in the schedule, it probably isn’t sustainable.

“We'll see how we do it, but with the off-days, you see it,” said Cora. “Tanner pitched Sunday, and then he's pitching Monday [the following week]. So it's great that we are able to take care of the guys, especially Chris and Corey. But at the same time, I know they liked their repetitions. That's something that we have to take into consideration.”

There could be a lot of deliberating in the coming days.

“There's a lot of stuff that comes into play,” said Cora. “And it's not only my decision, it’s the organization’s decision of what we’re going to do, putting everything on balance and seeing what benefits us now and in the future. We'll all sit down, we’ll talk about it. There’s going to be people that are thrilled they're going to be in the rotation, and others are going to be upset.

“At the same time, you’ve got a job to do, and you’ve got to get people out and you’ve got to contribute for us to get to where we want to go. So that's part of this.”

For Pivetta, his sluggish start in the series opener immediately followed a strong outing last Wednesday against Toronto, when the 30-year-old held the heavy-hitting Blue Jays to three runs over six innings while walking one and striking out six in his first quality start of the season.

However, consistency has been an issue for Pivetta. In an 11-start run from May 7-June 29 of last season, Pivetta went 8-1 with a 1.95 ERA. In his ensuing 24 starts, Pivetta is 4-10 with a 6.09 ERA.

Following Tuesday’s performance, Pivetta chose to go micro instead of macro.

“Tonight wasn’t my night,” said Pivetta. “I’m not going to read too much into it.”

One thing that is noticeable with Pivetta this season is that his hard-hit rate is 52.4 percent, compared to 45.6 percent last year and 40.4 percent in 2021.

“All those under-the-hood numbers, you know them. But he was coming from probably his best one against a tough lineup,” said Cora. “It just happened that this is a tough lineup too. They're tough, but stuff-wise, we believe that he can do it. Today was off from the first pitch. Then he picked it up a little bit. But by that time, it was [too] late.”