Nick Pivetta
Nicholas Johncarlo Pivetta (born February 14, 1993), is a Canadian professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Washington Nationals selected Pivetta in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB draft. He was traded to Philadelphia during the 2015 season, and made his MLB debut with them in 2017.
Nick Pivetta | |||
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Pivetta with the Phillies in 2019 | |||
Philadelphia Phillies – No. 43 | |||
Pitcher | |||
Born: Victoria, British Columbia | February 14, 1993|||
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MLB debut | |||
April 30, 2017, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |||
MLB statistics (through August 10, 2020) | |||
Win–loss record | 19–30 | ||
Earned run average | 5.50 | ||
Strikeouts | 421 | ||
Teams | |||
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Career
High school and college
Pivetta was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He attended Lambrick Park Secondary School in Saanich, British Columbia. He missed pitching his senior year in high school due to an ulnar collateral ligament injury in his right elbow.[1][2] He was a member of the Canadian Junior National Team from 2009-12, pitching in the 2010 18U World Championship.[3]
He attended New Mexico Junior College where he played for the Thunderbirds on a baseball scholarship, and graduated in 2013.[4][5][1] In his first season, he was 4-1 with a 4.83 ERA in 54 innings.[1] As a sophomore in 2013, he was 9-2 with a 3.36 ERA, had a .235 batting average against, and pitched six complete games. [1] Baseball America named him the 6th-best junior college prospect in 2013, and Perfect Game USA ranked him the 3rd-best junior college prospect, as his fastball reached as high as 97 miles per hour.[6][1] He played for the Victoria Eagles of the youth baseball British Columbia Premier Baseball League, and the Victoria HarbourCats of the collegiate summer West Coast League.[7]
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals selected Pivetta in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB draft out of New Mexico Junior College.[8] He signed with the Nationals for $364,300, and made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast Nationals of the Rookie Gulf Coast League.[1] He ended the season with the Auburn Doubledays of the Class A- New York-Pennsylvania League. In nine games (eight starts) between the two teams, he was 1–1 with a 2.91 ERA.
Pivetta spent 2014 with the Class A Hagerstown Suns, where he was a South Atlantic League mid-season All-Star, the June 23 SAL Pitcher of the Week, and where his 13 wins were third in the SAL and tied for first among all Washington minor leaguers.[9][10][1][11] He finished the season with a 13–8 record, 4.22 ERA, and 1.37 WHIP in 26 games (25 starts; tied for 7th in the league). Following the season, Baseball America named him the 10th-best prospect in the Nationals' minor league system.[11]
In 2015, Pivetta was 7-4 with a 2.29 ERA for the Class A-Advanced Potomac Nationals, and was a Carolina League All Star.[9]
Philadelphia Phillies
2015-17
On July 28, 2015, the Nationals traded Pivetta to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jonathan Papelbon.[12]
In 2016, he was 11–6 (his 11 wins were 3rd in the league) with a 3.41 ERA (6th) and 111 strikeouts (6th) for the Double-A Reading Phillies, with whom Pivetta was an Eastern League mid-season All Star.[5] He was also 1–2 with a 2.55 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 24.2 innings in five starts for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs.[11][13][9] The Phillies added him to their 40-man roster after the 2016 season.[14]
Pivetta played for Team Canada in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.[5]
In 2017, Pivetta went 5–0 with a 1.41 ERA for the IronPigs, and was Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week for the week ended April 16.[5] Pivetta was promoted to the 25-man roster on April 30, making his MLB debut the same day against the Los Angeles Dodgers.[15] He was then 8–10 with a 6.02 ERA and 140 strikeouts in 133 innings for the Phillies.[13] Among Major League rookies, he was 1st in strikeouts-per-nine-innings-pitched (9.47, minimum 125 innings pitched; the highest ratio ever by a Phillies rookie with at least 25 starts), and 3rd in strikeouts (140; tied for the 9th-most strikeouts in a season ever by a Phillies rookie).[11]
2018-present
In 2018, Pivetta was 7-14 with a 4.77 ERA, 5th in the National League with 10.32 strikeouts-per-9-innings-pitched (the 2nd-highest rate of any Phillie pitcher in franchise history, behind Curt Schilling's 11.29 in 1997), 8th in the NL in strikeouts (188) and wild pitches (11), 9th in the NL in games started (32) and strikeouts/walk (3.69), and led the major leagues in allowing opposing batters the highest batting average on balls in play (.326).[16][17][18][19] He struck out a career-high 13 batters on June 18 against St. Louis.[16] His fastball was clocked as high as 98 miles per hour.[20]
In 2019, Pivetta struggled at the beginning of the season before being demoted to AAA. With Lehigh Valley he was 5-1 with a 3.07 ERA, as in 9 games (6 starts) and 41.0 innings he struck out 58 batters (with a 12.7 strikeouts/innings ratio, 5th-best in the International League), and giving up 23 hits had the best hits/9 innings ratio in the league at 5.0.[21][22] On July 19, it was announced he would be shifted to a relief role. In 2019 with the Phillies he was 4-6 with one save and a 5.38 ERA, as in 30 games (13 starts) he pitched 93.2 innings.[21]
Pitching style
Pivetta throws a four-seam fastball, a curveball, a slider, and a changeup.[23] He relies mostly on his fastball, which averages 96 miles per hour, and his two breaking balls.[24] In 2017 and 2018, he threw his fastball 59 percent of the time, his 80 mph curve 19 percent of the time, and his 85 mph slider 15 percent of the time.[25]
References
- "Where are they now: Nick Pivetta," Albuquerque Journal.
- "Opening Day starter Nick Pivetta moves at rapid pace" | Sports | insidenova.com
- Baseball Canada | "Pivetta to make big league debut in Los Angeles"
- Victoria HarbourCats | "HarbourCats alum Pivetta promoted to major leagues"
- "Nick Pivetta Stats, Fantasy & News" | MLB.com
- Victoria HarbourCats | Awards
- Dheensaw, Cleve. "Pivetta in Canadian lineup for World Baseball Classic". Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- "Washington tabs righty Pivetta at No. 136". Washington Nationals. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- "Nick Pivetta Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- "Pivetta gets call to ease Suns into new season". Herald Mail Media. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- "Nick Pivetta Stats, Fantasy & News". Philadelphia Phillies. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- "Philadelphia Phillies trade Jonathan Papelbon to Washington Nationals". ESPN. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- "Nick Pivetta Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- "Phillies add 11 players in 40-man roster overhaul". Retrieved November 19, 2016.
- Zolecki, Todd (April 30, 2017). "Pivetta set to debut on big league stage in LA: Phillies prospect was 3–0 with 0.95 ERA in Triple-A". mlb.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
- Nick Pivetta Stats, Fantasy & News | MLB.com
- "Philadelphia Phillies Top 10 Single-Season Pitching Leaders"
- Nick Pivetta Stats | Baseball-Reference.com
- "Major League Leaderboards » 2017 » Pitchers » Dashboard" | FanGraphs Baseball
- "Nick Pivetta," Pitcher List.
- "Nick Pivetta Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
- "2019 International League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. January 1, 1970. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- "BrooksBaseball.net Player Card: Nick Pivetta". www.brooksbaseball.net. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
- Player Card: Nick Pivetta
- Player Card: Nick Pivetta
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet