Ex-Red Sox Pitcher Named One Of MLB’s Top Breakout Players
The right-hander is 13-5 with a 2.87 ERA this season
Starting pitcher Nick Pivetta went just 37-41 across his four-plus seasons with the Boston Red Sox from 2020 to 2024, but produced a solid, if unspectacular 4.29 ERA and 1.24 WHIP.
Now nearing the end of his first season with the San Diego Padres, Pivetta has been tabbed as one of MLB’s top 20 breakout players from the 2025 season by Jim Bowden of The Athletic.
The 32-year-old signed a four-year, $55 million deal with the Friars in February.
“Pivetta has had a solid nine-year major-league career but this has been by far his best season. At age 32, he has posted a 13-5 record with a 2.87 ERA over 31 starts with 190 strikeouts in 181 2/3 innings,” Bowden wrote. “After signing this offseason as a free agent, he has been the ace of the Padres’ staff and it looks like he will get the nod for Game 1 of the Padres’ first playoff series. He is presently in the 97th or better percentile in fastball run value, breaking run value and overall pitching run value.”
Pivetta’s 13 wins are a career-high and his five losses are a career-low, outside of the pandemic-altered 2020 season. The Canadien’s 5.4 wins above replacement (WAR), 190 strikeouts and 181 2/3 innings pitched are all career bests as well, while his 2.87 ERA and 0.98 WHIP are easily the lowest in his nine seasons.
Pivetta ranks inside the National League’s top five in WAR for pitchers (fifth), innings pitched (fifth) and WHIP (second) among other categories.
The veteran hurler is joined by former Red Sox teammate Xander Bogaerts on the Padres, who recently clinched a playoff berth and trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by just 1 1/2 games in the NL West.
