Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta 'feeling healthy' after making rehab start with Triple-A WooSox
WORCESTER — Reinforcements from Worcester will shortly make their way to Boston.
Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta, who has been on Boston’s injured list since April 9 with a right elbow flexor strain, made a rehab start Thursday for the Worcester Red Sox at Polar Park. The right-handed pitcher tossed three-plus innings, allowing three hits, four runs and four walks while striking out five across 62 pitches.
“Repertoire felt good, just wasn’t throwing a ton of strikes,” said Pivetta, who threw 36 strikes and 26 balls. “But overall, health-wise, (I felt) good.”
After walking the first two batters, Pivetta settled down and retired the next nine Lehigh Valley IronPig hitters. Pivetta, who was scheduled to toss between 60-65 pitches, then walked the first two batters in the fourth inning before being pulled by WooSox manager Chad Tracy.
“I have some mechanical adjustments to work on, but we’ll be fine,” Pivetta said.
Pivetta, who reached 96.4 miles per hour on his fastball, said he felt healthy and strong after his rehab outing. The plan is for the 31-year-old to return to the Red Sox starting rotation soon.
“Just to continue to be healthy and see where we go from there,” Pivetta said of his future.
Before landing on the injured list, Pivetta was impressive in two starts for the Red Sox.
In a game against the Seattle Mariners on March 29, Pivetta pitched six innings and allowed just three hits and a run with no walks and 10 strikeouts. A start later, Pivetta tossed a five-inning shutout — allowing five hits and a walk while striking out three in an April 3 win over the Oakland Athletics.
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A few days later, Pivetta was placed on the IL.
After tossing roughly 50 pitches in a simulated game Saturday in Boston, the plan was for Pivetta was to throw a few innings in the WooSox’ third game of a six-game homestand in Worcester.
“He bounced back well,” Red Sox manager Cora told Christopher Smith of MassLive on Sunday. “He feels great. So now we just map it out. From my end, I would like him to go down (to Worcester) and make a start if it’s three or four innings and then come back. ... But I’m happy that he’s feeling great and looking forward to having him back.”
Pivetta is currently in his eighth major league season, and fifth with Boston.
The native of Victoria, British Columbia, was acquired by the Red Sox from the Philadelphia Phillies — along with pitcher Connor Seabold — for relief pitchers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree in 2020.
A fourth-round selection by the Washington Nationals in the 2013 MLB Draft, Pivetta was traded to the Phillies for Jonathan Papelbon in 2015. Across 198 big-league games (154 starts), Pivetta is 51-60 with a 4.81 ERA. In 106 games (83 starts) with the Red Sox, he is 32-30 with a 4.26 ERA.
The last time Pivetta pitched in the minor leagues was in 2019 with Lehigh Valley, going 5-1 with a 3.07 ERA in nine games (six starts).
Grissom set to make Red Sox debut soon
Infielder Vaughn Grissom was expected to be activated by the Red Sox Friday following a 20-day injury rehab assignment with the WooSox.
Grissom, who suffered a left hamstring strain during spring training and has been on the injured list since March 25, originally was slated to be activated to the Red Sox roster Tuesday before being sidelined with the flu.
In nine games for the WooSox, Grissom went 10 for 30 with two RBIs. Grissom, 23, was acquired from the Atlanta Braves in December in exchange for left-handed pitcher Chris Sale.
—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta makes rehab start with WooSox
