Nick Pivetta Boston Red Sox Pitcher

       
 
Age: 31
Born: February 14, 1993
Birthplace: Victoria, BC
Height: 6-5
Weight: 215
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
   
Drafted: 4th round, 2013 by WAS
How Acquired: Acquired from Philadephia with Connor Seabold for Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree, cash considerations, and a PTBNL or addiitonal cash
College: New Mexico JC
High School: Lambrick Park SS (BC)
   

Photo © Kelly O'Connor
Nick Pivetta photos by Kelly O'Connor
Pronunciation: pih-VET-tah
First Pro Contract: June 29, 2013 (WAS)
Signing Scout: Mitch Sokol
Signing Bonus: $364,300
Rule 5 Draft Eligible: N/A
MLFA Eligible: N/A
   
Pro Debut: July 13, 2013 (GCL Nationals)
Added to 40-man: November 18, 2016 (PHI)
MLB Debut: April 30, 2017 (PHI)
Service Time (1/25): 6 years, 166 days
Options Remaining: 0 (2020, 2019, 2017)
Contract (2025): $7,500,000
   
Twitter: @npivetta27
Instagram: @npivetta43

 
 
 
 
 
     
  Scouting Report & Links      
         
  Physical Description: Tall, sturdy frame. Maxed out physically, no remaining projection.

Mechanics: Throws from a high three-quarters arm slot. Upright delivery. Does not use a wind-up. Falls off hard to the first base side. Medium leg kick. Controlled delivery. Has consistently tinkered with his mechanics, trying to find something that works for him. Has used a much shorter arm path during the 2020 season.

Fastball: 92-94 mph. Has topped out at 98-99 mph in the past. Velocity has been down during the 2020 season, only topping out at 96 and averaging just below 94 mph, whereas he topped out at 98 and averaged just under 95 in 2019. Pitch has straightened out and lost horizontal movement as he has gotten deeper into his career. When on, pitch has shown bat-missing ability. Command is average at best. Potential above-average pitch.

Curveball: 80-83 mph. Long, with two-plane break. At its best, shows depth and he can bury it down in the zone for swinging strikes. Throws with above-average spin. Potential above-average pitch.

Changeup: 85-87 mph. Lacks separation from his fastball. On the firm side with some drop. Doesn’t throw often and lacks confidence in the pitch. Potential below-average offering.
  Slider: 85-88 mph. Clear fourth pitch that he has de-emphasized over the past couple years, particularly in 2020, instead throwing his curveball more.

Career
Notes: Former member of the Canadian Junior National Team, playing in the 18U World Championships. Missed most of his senior year of high school with a UCL injury that does not appear to have required Tommy John surgery. Originally drafted by the Nationals, who traded him to the Phillies for Jonathan Papelbon in 2015. After the Red Sox acquired him from the Phillies in 2020, he pitched at the Alternate Training Site until making his final two starts of the year in Boston. Was kept in the minors for long enough in 2020 to delay his qualifying for arbitration and free agency by a year each. Entered 2021 in the Boston rotation.

Summation: Potential MLB swingman type. Has rotation upside if he can develop his changeup and refine his mechanics, but has not shown that ability yet in his major league career. Has the size you look for in a starter and a very strong arm, but lacks refinement on the mound. If he can put it all together, has the chance to develop into a mid-rotation starter, but the odds of that are slim. The Red Sox will look to tweak some things and see if they can unlock his talent, because if they can, he has serious upside. A high-risk, high-reward acquisition.

Links
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    Pitching Stats                                          
  year team lg level org age w l era g gs sv ip h r er hr hbp bb so whip k/9 bb/9
2013 New Mexico JC WJCAC NJCAA --- 20 6 1 3.33 11 11 0 75.2 66 35 28 4 0 18 49 1.11 5.83 2.14
  2013 GCL Nationals GCL Rk Was 20 1 0 2.13 4 3 0 12.2 11 4 3 0 0 2 8 1.03 5.68 1.42
  2013 Auburn Doubledays NYPL A- Was 20 0 1 3.38 5 5 0 21.1 19 8 8 1 1 11 17 1.41 7.17 4.64
  2014 Hagerstown Suns SAL A Was 21 13 8 4.22 26 25 0 132.1 142 66 62 15 6 39 98 1.37 6.66 2.65
  2015 Potomac Nationals Caro A+ Was 22 7 4 2.29 15 14 0 86.1 70 29 22 4 0 29 72 1.15 7.51 3.02
  2015 Harrisburg Senators East AA Was 22 0 2 7.20 3 3 0 15.0 19 12 12 4 0 9 6 1.87 3.60 5.40
  2015 Reading Fightin Phils East AA Phi 22 2 2 7.31 7 7 0 28.1 32 24 23 4 0 19 25 1.80 7.94 6.04
  2016 Reading Fightin Phils East AA Phi 23 11 6 3.41 22 22 0 124.0 108 50 47 10 6 41 111 1.20 8.06 2.98
  2016 Lehigh Valley IronPigs IL AAA Phi 23 1 2 2.55 5 5 0 24.2 20 7 7 2 2 10 27 1.22 9.85 3.65
  2017 Lehigh Valley IronPigs IL AAA Phi 24 5 0 1.41 5 5 0 32.0 25 6 5 1 1 2 37 0.84 10.41 0.56
  2017 Philadelphia Phillies NL MLB Phi 24 8 10 6.02 26 26 0 133.0 144 91 89 25 4 57 140 1.51 9.47 3.86
  2018 Philadelphia Phillies NL MLB Phi 25 7 14 4.77 33 32 0 164.0 163 91 87 24 5 51 188 1.30 10.32 2.80
  2019 Lehigh Valley IronPigs IL AAA Phi 26 5 1 3.07 9 6 0 41.0 23 14 14 2 1 22 58 1.10 12.73 4.83
  2019 Philadelphia Phillies NL MLB Phi 26 4 6 5.38 30 13 1 93.2 103 64 56 20 4 39 89 1.52 8.55 3.75
  2020 Philadelphia Phillies NL MLB Phi 27 0 0 15.88 3 0 0 5.2 10 10 10 3 1 1 4 1.94 --- ---
  2020 Boston Red Sox AL MLB Bos 27 2 0 1.80 2 2 0 10.0 8 2 2 1 0 5 13 1.30 11.70 4.50
  2021 Boston Red Sox AL MLB Bos 28 9 8 4.53 31 30 1 155.0 137 80 78 24 5 65 175 1.30 10.20 3.80
2022 Boston Red Sox AL MLB Bos 29 10 12 4.56 33 33 0 179.2 175 91 91 27 5 73 175 1.38 8.88 3.66
2023 Boston Red Sox AL MLB Bos 30 10 9 4.04 38 16 1 142.2 110 69 64 23 6 50 183 1.12 11.54 3.15
2024 Worcester Red Sox IL AAA Bos 31 0 1 12.00 1 1 0 3.0 3 4 4 0 0 4 5 2.33 15.00 12.00
2024 Boston Red Sox AL MLB Bos 31 6 12 4.14 27 26 0 145.2 128 70 67 28 1 36 172 1.13 10.63 2.22
2025 Boston Red Sox AL MLB Bos 32     stats                            
   
     
  Advanced Stats & Splits
   
     
  Awards   SoxProspects.com Awards  
  South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week (June 17-23, 2014)
South Atlantic League All-Star (2014)
Carolina League All-Star (2015)
Eastern League All-Star (2016)
International League Pitcher of the Week (May 13-19, 2019)
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