New episodes of the Sox Outsider Podcast are up! Check them out if you haven’t already!
I talked to one of my favorite baseball writers, Matthew Trueblood of Baseball Prospectus, about the Red Sox off-season and then we worked around the AL to get a better picture of what Boston is up against as they strive to get back to the playoffs. Check that episode out here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-12-matthew-trueblood-of-baseball-prospectus/id1459411107?i=1000512597222
Chris Crawford of NBC Sports Edge joined me to talk about the Red Sox minor league system and preview some of the prospects who could be available in this July’s MLB Draft. Listen to that episode here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-13-chris-crawford-of-nbc-sports-edge-on-the-red-sox/id1459411107?i=1000513309835
With spring training drawing on and no real news to report, MLB.com’s Michael Clair joined me on the podcast to draft our favorite parts of different baseball franchises. It was really fun! Listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-14-mlb-coms-michael-clair/id1459411107?i=1000513591880
If you prefer a non-Apple Podcasts feed, here’s an up-to-date list of links to different podcast providers that have the Sox Outsider Podcast: https://linktr.ee/soxoutsider
This is what happens when you write nice things about a player. Call it Announcers Law. When you point out a player is doing well they will immediately fall on their face. So last week I wrote about Nick Pivetta could surprise some people and be good. Oops.
I should’ve known this would be the result when I looked at Pivetta’s good spring training. I wrote “Is Nick Pivetta Possibly This Good?” to which Nick Pivetta wrapped on my bedroom window at 6am with a mallet while shouting, “NOOOO!” repeatedly like that Michael Scott GIF which, OK fine, I’ll find it. Here.
Facing the Pirates on Sunday, Pivetta gave up six runs in four innings, including six hits and three walks while striking out three. His command and control were both absent without leave. He got out of the first unscathed, though not without some hard contact. He started off the second inning against Pirates first baseman Will Craig by missing badly with his first two fastballs. The first was shoulder height when it should’ve been at the knees. The second was better but also worse. Here is where it was supposed to be.
And here is where it was.
You’ll note a difference there. That second image came immediately following the ball being lined into left field for a hit, as can happen when you put a fastball over the plate belt high.
Pivetta did make some good pitches too. The next batter was Cole Tucker, who Pivetta got to swing and miss on a fantastic curveball, though it came after Pivetta missed his spot badly on two fastballs. The at-bat of the day for Pivetta came later that inning against Adam Frazier. Pivetta missed on two fastballs and a curve to make the count 3-and-0, then put a fastball on a tee that Frazier drove into the gap between right and center fields for a two run double.
The difference between yesterday’s Pivetta and the one we’ve seen before today was noticeable. There were a lot of balls, a lot of falling behind hitters, and a lot of missing location on pitches. I think I said this about Pivetta earlier this off-season so forgive me if you’ve read this line before, but his stuff is good, but it’s not the kind of stuff that he can afford to miss with repeatedly. It’s not, for example, Craig Kimbrel stuff. Kimbrel could miss with his fastball and his curve over and over and over and batters couldn’t recognize either quickly enough to make him pay for it. Pivetta isn’t Kimbrel. He has to be able to get pitches over, or at least near enough to where he wants them to go, and yesterday he didn’t.
The funny thing about that though was that he threw some very good pitches and even with the bad outing, if this was the first time you ever saw Nick Pivetta pitch, you would still be able to see there is talent there. And it’s only spring training, so I don’t imagine Pivetta is losing any sleep about this tonight. The Red Sox might be though. Whatever they did with Pivetta at least year’s alternate site, whatever they were working on with him for the month between when he was traded to Boston and when he made his season debut for the team, whatever all that was, it didn’t seem to matter yesterday in the way that maybe it was mattering before yesterday.
Guys have bad outings, but this has been a career long problem for Pivetta so it’s discouraging to see it pop up again, even in a game in which the outcome doesn’t matter.
A short programming note: I’ll be stepping out for a quick socially distanced family vacation this week, so don’t expect to hear much from Sox Outsider until maybe the weekend. Though you know I love you and can’t stay away so maybe I’ll sneak some Sox writing in late one of these nights just because this is kinda what I do for fun. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.
mess with the otm gods you get the hornz baby