Phillies clearly at their wits end with pitcher Nick Pivetta
After demoting Nick Pivetta yet again, the Phillies showed that they are finished dealing with the ups and (mostly) downs of his career.
To call the Phillies pitching staff a dumpster fire might be an understatement. Outside of Aaron Nola, no pitcher has had much success this season. All of the team’s starters have been inconsistent, none more so then Nick Pivetta.
Pivetta was optioned for the second time this season on Saturday afternoon coming off the heels of a disastrous performance against the Marlins Friday night. He gave up five runs in 2.1 innings and was the losing pitcher in the embarrassing 19-11 loss to the Marlins.
The team clearly had it with Pivetta after Friday night. Even after moving from the rotation to the bullpen, he still couldn’t establish himself as an effective reliever. In 19.2 relief innings since July 20, Pivetta has a 4.12 ERA, 25 strikeouts, 10 walks, and 22 hits allowed.
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On top of being ineffective, it seems like Pivetta wasn’t willing to own up to his own struggles. Manager Gabe Kapler actually said something seemingly negative, a rarity during his tenure, that gave us more insight into the reasoning behind this demotion: [quote via Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia]
"“Well, I think the most important thing a player can do in these situations is look themselves in the mirror and say, ‘What can I do better?’ And that’s what I mean by accountability.”"
From some reading between the lines, one can assume that the coaching staff tried to get Pivetta to change something up on the mound to hopefully make him improve.
Kapler noted that Pivetta particularly needs to work on commanding his breaking ball, which he will now have the chance to do in Triple-A.
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Pivetta leans heavily on his fastball when he gets in trouble, as does Vince Velasquez. Both of them try to overpower opposing hitters with their fastball, which only makes them predictable on the mound. My best guess is that Kapler or pitching coach Chris Young tried to make this point to Pivetta, but they couldn’t get through.
Many people expected big things from Pivetta this year, including the team.
They gift-wrapped him the No. 3 spot in the rotation coming into the season, and there was plenty of reason to believe he would succeed.
Next. Maikel Franco should never play in MLB again. dark
Instead, Pivetta’s season continues to trend downward after a move to the bullpen and two separate demotions. He has clearly worn the club thin with his inconsistency and apparent inability to change his game. Pivetta will likely come back once the rosters expand, but his long-term future is dimmer than it ever has been.