Red Sox place Nick Pivetta on the IL with right elbow flexor strain
The Red Sox have placed right-handed starting pitcher Nick Pivetta on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow flexor strain, the team announced ahead of the home opener.
Boston has recalled left-handed reliever Brennan Bernardino from Triple-A Worcester.
Pivetta was scheduled to start the second game of the home stand against the Orioles on Wednesday at Fenway Park.
The righty has made two starts to begin the season, all on the West Coast trip. Pivetta is 1-1 with a 0.82 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 11 innings. He tossed five scoreless innings in his last start against the A’s on April 3, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out three.
The native of Victoria, British Columbia, had a strong finish to his 2023 season. He set career bests in ERA (4.04), WHIP (1.12), and opponent batting average (.208).
The Red Sox lost Lucas Giolito to an arm injury during the spring and he will miss the rest of the regular season following elbow surgery. Pivetta has been relatively durable during his tenure with the Red Sox. From 2021 to 2023, Pivetta was eighth amongst pitchers in the American League with 477 1/3 innings pitched. Giolito ranks sixth with 524 2/3 innings during that span.
Two of the starting pitchers the Red Sox were hoping to rely on to eat innings and be workhorses in the rotation are now out and on the IL.
Back in mid-February, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe spoke with Pivetta and asked him how he approached training in the offseason.
“I was trying to push the limits with getting ready earlier—facing hitters, getting my body ready earlier,” Pivetta said to Speier. “Usually it’s a more gradual buildup. This year, it was hit the ground running, go 100 percent the whole entire time [in spring training], and act like every pitch is your last — this is gonna be the last time playing, every single outing. I think having that intensity and carrying that throughout the whole entire year is what I’m focused on.”
The Red Sox are running thin on internal options that are MLB-ready to help the ailing rotation. Cooper Criswell and Jason Alexander have both pitched well for Triple-A Worcester. Boston will soon see what Naoyuki Uwasawa looks like this week when he throws for the first time in game action. The club could look to Josh Winckowski as an option if things continue to get dire for Alex Cora.
Boston should look to explore external options to add depth to Triple-A Worcester. They could elevate right-handed pitcher Hunter Dobbins to Worcester, but he is not major league ready.
If Pivetta misses an extended period of time, the club will be tested to navigate the waters of the 2024 season that’s started out promising following their 7-3 West Coast trip.
