Nick Pivetta sent to Red Sox bullpen

BOSTON -- Nick Pivetta is the odd man out in the Red Sox rotation. The 30-year-old righty has been sent to the Boston bullpen, manager Alex Cora announced Wednesday night.

The Red Sox had been going with a six-man rotation since James Paxton's return last week. But with three off-days over the next two weeks, there was no need to have a sixth starter in the mix.

With Pivetta struggling over his last several starts, he'll now try his right arm as a long reliever and innings eater out of the pen.

"I'm going to focus on helping the team achieve our goals," Pivetta told reporters, via RedSox.com. "I'm gonna go out there and do my job and throw up zeros and help this team win. I just don't think I make this about me. I've just got to go out and focus. I've got to pitch better and I've got to go and start and do that right there. The better I do out of the bullpen, the more I can help the team win and move us towards our overall goal of winning the World Series. I think that's what's most important."

Pivetta has made just one regular-season relief appearance for Boston since joining the team after the 2020 trade deadline, plus four innings of scoreless relief in Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2021 AL Divisional Series.

For his career, he owns a 6.12 ERA over his 22 appearances out of a big league bullpen. Pivetta has made 144 starts in the Majors, touting a 5.04 ERA in those games.

After a solid start to the 2023 season, Pivetta has allowed 27 earned runs over 30 innings in his last six starts. He is 3-3 for the season with a 6.30 ERA, with opponents checking in with a .270 batting average against Pivetta. He allowed nine homers over his eight starts, after getting taken deep 27 times in 2022.

Meanwhile, Brayan Bello (with a 2.19 ERA over his last four starts) and James Paxton (two runs over his five-inning debut last Friday) have looked good, leading to Alex Cora's decision to send Pivetta to the bullpen.

The Boston rotation now consists of Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Tanner Houck, Bello and Paxton.