Five months out, back on the mound Monday
Nick Pivetta is back on the mound. San Diego Padres manager Craig Stammen announced overnight that the right-hander will start the series opener against the Washington Nationals. The call came right after the Padres’ 4-3 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday, a result that gave them their first series win in two weeks.
Pivetta had not pitched in the majors since April 12. He walked off mid-game against Colorado with a forearm issue and never made it back, finishing that stretch 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA across four starts. The injury kept him from any rehab work until last month.
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A slow build back
The road back nearly went off the rails. On Aug. 4, in his first rehab appearance, Pivetta left the mound mid-inning, apparently hurt again. The Padres had to start over.
His latest outing on Aug. 30 with Triple-A El Paso changed things. He struck out seven in 4 1/3 innings. “His command of the fastball and all his pitches, the curveball has improved a bit,” Stammen said. Pivetta threw 64 pitches that day. He should be around 75 on Monday. Last year, he finished 13-5 with a 2.87 ERA and came sixth in National League Cy Young voting.
Three weeks to make it count
San Diego are 75-68 and sit half a game behind Arizona for the final National League wild-card spot. That means the staff won’t have much patience if this comeback goes sideways. The pitch count will be the safety net.
The matchup is hardly a kind one. Against Washington, Pivetta is 3-7 with a 7.39 ERA in 15 appearances, 12 of them starts. He did beat them twice last season, though, allowing just six hits and one run in 13 innings.
The Nationals (67-78) arrive tired. They took the bus from Los Angeles on Sunday night after a 7-5 loss to the Dodgers, with an expected arrival after 2 a.m. Pacific time. Jake Irvin (2-8, 5.57) will get the ball for them.
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