Phillies: Red Sox’ Deivy Grullon crushes HR off Nick Pivetta
By Matt Rappa
Former Phillies Deivy Grullon and Nick Pivetta are teammates again with the Red Sox
Two former players of the Philadelphia Phillies organization — catcher Deivy Grullon and right-handed pitcher Nick Pivetta — are getting acclimated to their new team in the Boston Red Sox.
And, in a recent video shared to his Instagram account, Grullon appears to already be displaying home run power while donning a Red Sox uniform; it just happened to come against Pivetta at the team’s alternate training site at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
After the Phillies designed Grullon for assignment on August 31, the Red Sox claimed him off waivers and optioned him to their alternate training site. The 24-year-old, who slashed .283/.354/.496 with 21 home runs last season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, eventually was called up to the big-leagues in late September and went 1-for-9.
NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Corey Seidman writes why the Phils may have chosen to designate Grullon, who has been called up to serve as the Red Sox’ 29th man in Tuesday’s doubleheader against his former team:
"The reason the Phillies removed Grullón from the 40-man roster even though they knew losing him for nothing was a possibility was the same reason they’ve designated for assignment Nick Williams and Enyel De Los Santos in recent weeks. All three were going to be 40-man roster casualties this winter anyway when the Phillies will have to add other prospects to the roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft."
Ten days before the Phillies designated Grullon for assignment, they dealt Pivetta and righty prospect Connor Seabold to the Red Sox in exchange for right-handed bullpen arms Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree, along with cash considerations. So far, Workman has five saves and a 3.86 ERA in nine appearances in red pinstripes, while Hembree has a 9.00 ERA in six appearances.
In three games out of the Phillies bullpen during the shortened 2020 season, the 27-year-old Pivetta posted a 15.88 ERA and 1.94 WHIP ratio spanning 5 2/3 innings
Right-handed reliever Robert Stock began spring training and summer camp on the Phillies roster, but he, too, has since joined the Red Sox organization through a similar waiver wire claim as Grullon.
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The Phillies and Red Sox’ twin bill doubleheader on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park will start at 4:05 p.m. There is speculation that Pivetta could start the second game opposite Vince Velasquez. The pairing would be fitting, as both frequently seemed to have battled for a back-end spot in the Phils’ starting rotation in recent seasons.
The Phillies and Red Sox split their recent two-game set at Fenway Park, with manager Joe Girardi‘s squad winning and losing 13-6 and 6-3, respectively. The finale loss was the first of a five-game skid, before the Phillies went on to win 10 of their next 11 games.
Now, the Phillies hope to build off of their extra-innings Labor Day victory against the New York Mets, with the season set to end in less than three weeks.