Red Sox need vet starter to be more consistent — even as potential trade chip | Cotillo (2024)

BOSTON — Independent of how the next few weeks play out on a team level, the Red Sox need Nick Pivetta — perhaps more than any other player on their roster — to be more consistent if they want to achieve their goals at the trade deadline and beyond.

Pivetta took a step back against his former team Wednesday night, allowing four runs in four innings while allowing a parade of Phillies baserunners (six hits and four walks) to circle the bases at Fenway Park. After a dominant start in which he struck out struck out nine Braves in seven dominant shutout innings, he seemed to lack all feel for his pitches against Philadelphia and departed with the Sox trailing 4-0 in a game they’d eventually fight back to win, 8-6.

For the 34-34 Red Sox, who at all times seem to find themselves at .500, having a dominant Pivetta anchoring the rotation along with Tanner Houck would obviously be a major boon as the club tries to stay in contention into the summer. But perhaps the more effectual reason for the Sox to want Pivetta to start giving them more on the mound is so that his trade value rises. With just about seven weeks to go before the July 30 deadline, a sale —one that is seen by many in industry circles as inevitable unless the Red Sox start winning a lot of games, fast —looms. And Pivetta, more than any other realistic trade candidate on Boston’s roster, would be a highly coveted chip if his next few outings are good ones.

Pivetta, 31, is one of four contributors on the roster who are pending free agents along with closer Kenley Jansen, setup man Chris Martin and outfielder Tyler O’Neill. Those four are Craig Breslow’s prime trade candidates, assuming a sale. Rob Refsnyder could also be on the block, but he’s under control for another year, producing for cheap and has risen to be one of the Sox’ top clubhouse leaders. Barring a very surprising swap involving a younger player (Connor Wong? David Hamilton?) or a good, controllable reliever (Brennan Bernardino? Greg Weissert?), any selling will come from the group of veterans who aren’t under contract long. It’s expected the Sox would find a limited market for Masataka Yoshida even if they’d have a more functional roster without him.

In Jansen, the Sox have an obvious chip whose stuff is ticking up as the season goes on, though he has had few clean innings so far this season and might not fetch much as a rental reliever making a high salary. The market may be similarly constrained for Martin, who is currently out due to anxiety-related symptoms. While he should be —and has been —widely commended for not only facing his struggles but being open about them publicly, the reality is that teams will have concerns related to the situation. O’Neill’s injury history is well-documented and the fact he has been dealing with a balky knee while hitting just .185 with two homers since May 1 isn’t going to help his value.

Pivetta, then, might be the blue chip of the group. A metrics darling that teams throughout baseball have loved for years due to his pitch mix and ability to post every five days, the right-hander has the chance to be one of the best rental starting pitchers on a market that’s expected to include Detroit’s Jack Flaherty and the Mets’ Luis Severino. Starts like Wednesday’s, with the backdrop of career-long inconsistency from Pivetta, won’t help Breslow’s chances of getting a big haul back, though. Some teams might want to bite on Pivetta’s ceiling. But he still needs to raise the floor.

Since coming back from the injured list in Atlanta on May 8, Pivetta has had two great starts (against Atlanta and St. Louis), two pretty good ones (Rays and Tigers) and three stinkers (Braves, Brewers and Phillies). That he couldn’t go more than four innings in each of those outings against three of the National League’s top teams is a cause for concern. Since returning, he has a 4.83 ERA while allowing 29 hits and issuing 12 walks in 35 ⅓ innings. Free passes were the big issue Wednesday.

“Four walks is the tale of the story,” Pivetta said. “I was getting ahead of guys but not able to string it together later.”

“He wasn’t throwing strikes,” added manager Alex Cora. “You’ve got to throw that over the plate, and he knows it. Four walks. With his stuff, we’ve got to throw it over the plate. Tonight wasn’t his night.”

Even if the Red Sox haven’t yet declared which side of the buy/sell line they’ll be on, it’s getting to be the time of year when scouts from contenders start populating ballparks all over North America. Boston has 38 more games before July 30, which means Pivetta will have seven or eight more chances to pitch before that point. A handful of dominant outings could help push the Red Sox toward buying. But even if the club does find itself selling, a strong stretch out of Pivetta would help Breslow fetch what would likely be his biggest haul of this year’s trading season.

For Pivetta, the next start will come Monday night in Toronto. The Sox will hope the results will be better immediately.

“Everybody has to be consistent,” Cora said. “They’re going to have good starts and bad starts. That’s part of the process. We pitched so well for so long. It’s part of it. He’s not perfect. He’ll be ready for the next one.”