The results haven’t been there so far for Red Sox starting pitcher Nick Pivetta in spring training.
But the veteran right-hander isn’t all too concerned about that, especially as he focuses on overhauling his curveball.
The 30-year-old, who was Boston’s most reliable starting pitcher a season ago, is making some key adjustments to the off-speed pitch that Pivetta believes will be beneficial in helping him get batters out.
“Something more in the zone longer at a better speed,” Pivetta told reporters, per The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham. “My other one was more out of zone, in the zone, out of the zone. This one is in the entire time.”
Pivetta only threw eight curveballs out of his 57 pitches in his second spring training start against the New York Yankees on Thursday, per Baseball Savant. The curveball was Pivetta’s second-most used pitch a season ago.
Pivetta, who had a setback during camp as he had a bout with COVID, tossed two innings in the 11-7 win in which he allowed two runs and three hits while walking three and striking out two.
While Pivetta issued the trio of free passes, Alex Cora liked the righty’s control and the Red Sox manager was encouraged overall by the outing.
“One thing we liked today is that he threw strikes,” Cora told reporters per MLB.com’s Dawn Klemish. “They put good at-bats on him, but he kept pounding the strike zone. … (There were) a lot of foul balls and he ended up walking guys, but I feel like it’s a step in the right direction.”
