Nick Pivetta has been spectacular over his last six starts
The right-handed hurler is 5-1 in his last six outings
To say that Red Sox right-handed starter Nick Pivetta has been spectacular over his last six starts would be an understatement. Pivetta has been down right nasty on the mound. His dominance continued on Saturday afternoon against the Oakland Athletics.
Pivetta allowed just two hits in 7 scoreless innings to lead the Red Sox 8-0 win. He would strike out seven and only walked two batters in the process.
Since May 7, Pivetta has been a changed man on the mound. He’s 5-1 with a 1.32 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, .153 batting average against, 37 strikeouts and eight walks.
His last six starts have been a complete turnaround from how he started the season.
Pivetta began 2022 by going 0-4 in his first five games. In just 20 2/3 innings, he surrendered 18 runs, all earned, for a 7.84 ERA.
Pivetta himself can’t explain his massive turnaround.
"I don't know. I'm just going out there and having fun, playing baseball, just repeating what I've been doing more," he said. "I'm not trying to overanalyze it, I'm just trying to go out, compete, have fun, win baseball games -- that's all I really care about, and that's all I really want to do."
One key factor to his change in play on the mound, his fastball. The right-handed hurler is throwing just over 50% of his pitches for fastballs, holding batters to a .175 average.
That number is down from last year where opponents hit .225 against his fastball.
While is fastball has been key, Pivetta also thinks his curveball is a main factor as well.
"I think it's more to do with my curveball," Pivetta said. "My curveball command's gone up a lot more, I've used it a little bit more this year, so it allows my fastball to be properly executed at times. It keeps them off-balance."
What ever it is, Pivetta is pitching with massive confidence on the mound and the results speak for themselves.
His massive resurgence has been a big reason why Boston now sits just one game behind for a Wild Card spot.
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