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Philadelphia Phillies: Nick Pivetta seems to finally be comfortable in rotation

By Dan Parzych

BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 16: Nick Pivetta #43 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 16, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 16: Nick Pivetta #43 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 16, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
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After another strong performance against the Baltimore Orioles, Nick Pivetta seems to finally be comfortable in the rotation of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Heading into the 2018 season, Gabe Kapler and the Philadelphia Phillies seemed to feel confident enough in their chances of having a dominant rotation, mainly due to all of the excitement surrounding Aaron Nola and Jake Arrieta.

While Nola has been working his way to being one of the league’s top pitchers, Arrieta already had that reputation from his previous seasons as a member of the Chicago Cubs, which is why the Phillies were so excited to sign him late in spring training. However, Philadelphia’s rotation has been performing better than originally expected as of late thanks to players like Nick Pivetta.

Just look at Wednesday’s performance against the Baltimore Orioles in which Pivetta recorded 11 strikeouts in seven innings of work, as the Phillies went on to win the game 4-1. When considering Pivetta didn’t exactly get off to the best of starts in the first inning by allowing a home run to Adam Jones, this is just another example of how great the Philadelphia pitcher has been this season.

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Not to mention, it was only last week in which Pivetta finished with another stellar performance by striking out seven San Francisco Giants while allowing no runs in an 11-3 win by the Phillies.

With 18 strikeouts in 12 innings over his last two games, Pivetta is coming up big for Philadelphia when they need him the most to keep the race in the NL East even more interesting.

At the moment, the Phillies currently trail the Atlanta Braves by one game for first place, and have a full-game lead over the Washington Nationals for second place, although a lot could easily change in the next couple of days.

As great as this season has been for Philadelphia so far, Kapler knows there’s still plenty of baseball remaining, and the last thing his team can afford to do is make a big deal over their current situation.

However, if players like Pivetta continue to look comfortable in the rotation, and play at a high level, the Phillies are going to be a difficult team to to defeat throughout the rest of the 2018 season.

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With his next matchup scheduled for Monday against Atlanta, here’s to hoping the high number of strikeouts continue for Pivetta to possibly help Philadelphia inch closer to first place in the division.

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