Red Sox: Nick Pivetta proving to be the steal of the Chaim Bloom Era

Nick Pivetta is the gem of Chaim Bloom’s Red Sox tenure

Is everyone else still exhausted from yesterday’s Red Sox game, or is it just me? We saw offense, we saw defense, we saw pitching, and we saw Nick Pivetta. As I’ve dubbed him over the last few years, Captain Canada grabbed his shield yesterday afternoon and went to work. Chaim Bloom has made several moves during his time in Boston but fleecing the Phillies for Pivetta may be the biggest.

Now now, when you’re done yelling about Mookie Betts I’ll explain my reasoning. As far as Betts is concerned, it didn’t matter who was in the front office, that person’s task was to move him to the highest bidder. With Pivetta, he was a guy that Chaim had his eye on and went and got him. Not Dave Dombrowski, not a random GM from another organization. Chaim Bloom. So, to me, with what Nicky P has done in Boston he’s easily the steal of Chaim’s tenure.

Obviously, we have plenty of players in the minors still developing and figuring things out that could become greats in the organization, but we’re in the here and now. The biggest thing for me has been the turnaround that we’ve seen from the righty since the beginning of the season. He was horrendous in April, and he’d more than likely admit that without pause. As soon as the calendar flipped to May, though, he’s been a worldbeater.

Per FanGraphs, Pivetta is 7-2 in 65.1 innings pitched with a 2.07 ERA and a 2.73 FIP. He also owns a stellar 9.09 K/9 compared to a tidy 2.20 BB/9. He hasn’t pitched less than five innings in an outing since May 1st when he went just 4 1/3. In fact, he’s made it to the sixth or later in eight of his last ten starts. Hell, he even has a complete game in that stretch!

He has been beyond automatic and the series winner against St. Louis last night was another chapter in that story. The Cardinals’ offense is beyond dangerous and a major reason why they’re leading the NL Central currently. We saw just how good they can be when they demolished the Red Sox bullpen on Saturday, but they ran into a Canadian buzzsaw on Sunday.

He finished the day with seven innings of four-hit ball that saw him give up one earned, as well as, four walks to ten strikeouts. The big bummer for me is that he was one whiff away from tying his career-high for K’s. Still, it was a beyond impressive start from the 29-year-old and it further shows that Chaim was right.

Many in Red Sox Nation are ready to call for Bloom’s job the second one of his decisions doesn’t play out perfectly, and those people are ridiculous. Instead of crying about any possible failures, it’s time to celebrate the successes. Nobody saw this kind of production from Pivetta coming based on his time in Philly, and now he’s easily our second-best starter.

With a lot of uncertainty facing this rotation after this season, it’s a relief knowing we have him as the anchor. Just think about it. Chaim sent both Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree with their expiring contracts to the Phillies for Pivetta and Connor Seabold. Neither guy we sent is with Philadelphia and both we got in return are thriving. I fully expect Seabold to be a factor by the end of the season and especially for 2023.

I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was go back to watch the video of Pivetta leaving the mound after his half of the seventh. An inning I didn’t expect him to see but his pitch count was reasonable and he knew that he had to give the bullpen as much rest as possible. Then he goes out there and strikes out the side in the seventh, and in a moment reminiscent of the Postseason, he lets a roar out to the crowd and pounded his chest. Amazing.

There’s a lot of time left in the season and even more in Chaim’s time with the club so plenty can change from now until then. For me though, Nick Pivetta is without a doubt the biggest move Bloom has made in his time here. The prospects could easily surpass him once the time comes but nobody can touch what Captain Canada is doing with the Red Sox right now. Some could say it’s All-Star worthy and I wouldn’t fight them on that. Here’s to another great start and to the one coming next.