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Boston Red Sox Manager Alex Cora Confirms That Veteran is Moving to the Bullpen

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora confirms that he's moving veteran right-handed pitcher Nick Pivetta to the bullpen. The team has been operating with a six-man rotation for the last week.

Brady Farkas

Boston Red Sox Manager Alex Cora Confirms That Veteran is Moving to the Bullpen
Boston Red Sox Manager Alex Cora Confirms That Veteran is Moving to the Bullpen /
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The Boston Red Sox are making a switch in the pitching staff, sending veteran Nick Pivetta to the bullpen.

Chris Cotillo of MassLive tweeted the news after the Red Sox beat the Mariners, 12-3, on Wednesday.

"Nick Pivetta is moving to the bullpen, Alex Cora said."

This move is not completely unexpected for a few different reasons:

1) The Red Sox had been operating with a six-man rotation for the last week. Cora is not a fan of the six-man rotation so a move was bound to be made. With James Paxton coming back last Friday and looking sharp, that necessitated a move. The team will go with Paxton, Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Brayan Bello and Tanner Houck.

2) Pivetta has struggled this year. Though he got the win on Wednesday against Seattle, he's just 3-3 with a 6.30 ERA this year.

3) He excelled in the bullpen during the 2021 playoffs. As the Red Sox got to the ALCS, he was an integral part of the bullpen. He pitches with a lot of intensity and that could help him in short spurts. Furthermore, he has two really good pitches (fastball and curveball) which could play up in short usage as well.

This isn't the only move that the Red Sox need to make. Garrett Whitlock is nearly set to come back from an injury, so there's got to be one more move coming. Bello could go to Triple-A or Houck could move to the 'pen as well.

The Red Sox are off Thursday before taking on the Padres in San Diego on Friday night.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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