Nick Pivetta set to make a rehab start for Triple-A Worcester on Thursday
The Red Sox are inching closer to getting Nick Pivetta back into their rotation soon.
Pivetta is scheduled to make an injury rehab start on Thursday when the WooSox host the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs at Polar Park. The right-hander has been on the injured list since April 9 with a right elbow flexor strain.
The plan is for Pivetta to throw a couple of innings, and if it goes well, he is expected to return to the Red Sox rotation.
“Pivetta is supposed to throw for us (Thursday),” WooSox manager Chad Tracy said to reporters, including Tommy Cassell of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, after his club’s 5-2 win Wednesday night. "Obviously, I’ll wait for definite confirmation on that, but if he does, we’ll probably still use (Brian) Van Belle behind him.”
The 31-year-old threw a 50-pitch simulated game in Boston on Saturday. Pivetta got up and down three times in the session and was fired up when he struck out David Hamilton and Bobby Dalbec in the process.
“He was good. Intense,” manager Alex Cora said. “He was back to being himself. The fastball was good, and the breaking ball stuff was good. He was able to maintain his stuff throughout. So we’ll see how he bounces back tomorrow, but the plan is for him to go on a rehab start, and then we’ll decide what we do.”
Once Pivetta returns to the rotation, he will provide a boost to a staff that has been pitching lights out in his absence. Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, and Cooper Criswell have held down the fort while Pivetta has been working his way back.
Pivetta said he felt sharp during his sim game on Saturday and will now look to take that same intensity into his rehab start at Polar Park.
