NBC Sports Philadelphia. Yahoo Sports. MLB.com. Everywhere you looked it seemed Phillies starter Nick Pivetta was an easy bet to breakout in 2019.
Some analyses based it on the horrendous defense that the Phillies played throughout the year. Others looked at his strikeout rate and curveball’s spin. Still others showed some statistical data about how his numbers were ballooned by “disastrous starts,” and that the numbers weren’t as bad as they seemed.
Yet, Pivetta regressed heavily in 2019. His inability to locate the fastball led to hyper-reliance on his curveball, which snowballed into a decrease in strikeout percentage, an increase in hits and home runs per 9 innings, and ultimately a demotion to the bullpen.