It's Really Down to Nick Pivetta, Isn't It?

 

It's so weird. Nate Eovaldi, Rich Hill, Garrett Whitlock, Chris Sale, James Paxton and Connor Seabold are all injured right now. That is...an entire Red Sox rotation, and they're all injured. And if this Red Sox team wasn't surging and dead set on competing this year, that would end them. It ended them in 2020, the team had no rotation and the people that came in to replace them weren't very good at all. And now we have better replacements, and people like Tanner Houck, Josh Winckowski and Kutter Crawford who can come in and start games and get through it in more than 2 innings. 

But...this year, the Red Sox have Nick Pivetta at the top of the rotation. I don't know how, and I don't know why...but there's Pivetta kicking ass at the front of the line.

I saw this guy pitch as a Phillie, and there was some promise there. I used to get him confused with Jerad Eickhoff, and they filled a similar role, but he had some good perks. And then he stopped pitching well for the Phils, and since they either trade people too soon or keep giving them fricking chances [, Odubel], they traded him for Brandon Workman, and Workman crapped out for the Phils while Pivetta has been strong ever since landing in Boston, because of course he has.

As the only Red Sox starter to not get injured so far this year, Pivetta, in 17 starts, is 8-6 with a 3.68 ERA and 95 Ks. That's pretty strong stuff, even with more consistent performers like Eovaldi and Wacha behind him. And look, I know Sox fans want Sale back, I know they're waiting for him to stop tantruming during his rehab starts, but I'm not even sure if mid-2010s Sale is ever gonna come back at this point, which kind of sucks. At the very least, there's people like Pivetta and Houck and Winckowksi to build the rotation back up once the contracts leave. 

The Sox are in a weird place right now. They've lost a lot of ground in the last few days, they have the misfortune of having to play the Yankees this week, which can't be fun. I think they have a lot going for them, especially with Devers, Bogaerts and Jarren Duran surging, but with the rotation options lessening, this month is gonna be tough for them.

Coming Tomorrow- A guy who hit a mammoth homer as I was writing this.