Nick Pivetta to the Bullpen?
With the Red Sox rotation seeing a number of changes recently, could Nick Pivetta be headed to the bullpen?
It would be a safe thing to say that Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta has not had the best start to the 2022 season. Currently ranking 1st in the AL in runs given up with 13, as well as 2nd in HRs given up with 4, to say he is struggling is an understatement.
Pivetta is also no stranger to giving up runs in his career, sporting a 5+ ERA with a career WHIP over 1.4. The question has to be eventually asked, is it time to take him out of the starting rotation?
With the recent reshuffle of the rotation, it would make sense for Pivetta to make his way to the bullpen in the near future. Garrett Whitlock should be in the rotation to stay, and replacing him with a guy like Pivetta wouldn’t be the worst move. We have already saw a quick glimpse of this to finish out the 2021 season to send the Red Sox to the postseason.
When healthy, trotting a rotation out of Nathan Eovaldi, Chris Sale, Tanner Houck, Michael Wacha, and Garrett Whitlock sounds like it could be one of the better rotations in baseball. We know what we are going to get from Eovaldi, Houck, and Whitlock already, and Wacha has pitched surprisingly very well in his first two starts. Chris Sale will be the biggest question mark, but even if he isn’t all there, Rich Hill or even Kutter Crawford can pick up some slack.
With the loss of Whitlock to the rotation, the bullpen with need a guy like Pivetta who has shown that he can throw strikes and has some swing and miss stuff with the ability to go multiple innings when needed.
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