Nick Pivetta may pitch better his next game. Red Sox lose 6-1. Before April 21st game vs. Toronto

Nick Pivetta (Photo from MLB.com Video; https://www.mlb.com/gameday/blue-jays-vs-red-sox/2022/04/20/663247#game_state=final,game_tab=videos,game=663247)

Nick Pivetta doesn't have many excuses left to not win his next start.

In fact, he might be out of excuses after he pitched three scoreless innings (out of four innings) in the Boston Red Sox's 6-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.

He pitched two straight scoreless innings after giving up 5 runs in a nightmare 43-pitch second inning.

Pivetta pitched on Saturday, April 9th, the day after Boston's extra-inning loss to start the regular season in the Bronx at the New York Yankees.

He pitched on Opening Day at Fenway Park on April 15th.

And on Wednesday, he again pitched against a divisional opponent (this time at Fenway) in just the third night game of the regular season and just the second night game at Fenway.

So he's pretty much out of excuses now to lose in his next game unless he wants to blame his next start on the "getting-familiar-to-Canada-2022 excuse".

Pivetta's next start I believe is going to happen on Tuesday in Toronto (since I am assuming he's vaccinated against COVID-19).

He just got done pitching against Toronto. So Pivetta should be "familiar" with how to pitch against that lineup on Tuesday night.

The Red Sox will go to Toronto on Monday through Thursday of next week.

Pivetta objectively is the third-worst pitcher on the Red Sox this regular season before the Thursday, April 21st game vs. Toronto.

Only Ryan Brasier and Kutter Crawford are worse. That's not any opinion. That's an objective fact if you think I'm just stating my opinion.

When talking about both the good and the bad for every single Boston pitcher, Brasier's success rate/performance is .170, Crawford's is at .317 and Pivetta's is .371.

Pivetta has more than one actual loss than any other pitcher on the Red Sox. He can be blamed for 2.333 losses in his three starts this regular season.

Kutter Crawford can be blamed for .635 losses and Ryan Brasier can be blamed for .625 losses so far this regular season. They are ranked second and third in terms of most actual losses on the Red Sox this regular season.

In terms of potential losses, Pivetta is the worst at 2.333, Ryan Brasier (1.792), Nathan Eovaldi (1.786) and Rich Hill (1.500) are not far behind. Kutter Crawford is better than those four pitchers I just named (.957).

If you want to talk about winning, Pivetta is the only Boston starter to have not been a part of a Red Sox win so far this regular season. Of course, that is not Pivetta's fault...at all!

Technically, Pivetta cannot be an offensive player and actually win at all (unless he wants to be a DH or play some other position other than pitcher). He can only stop the opponent from scoring.

Nick Pivetta, Tyler Danish and Phillips Valdez are the only Red Sox pitchers to have not been a part of one Red Sox victory this regular season.

Pivetta's contributions to this Boston pitching staff are currently ranked second on this team (with 11 2/3 innings pitched) and only behind Nathan Eovaldi.

So to say Pivetta is completely worthless is false. Also, perhaps he has helped this Red Sox team win other games this season without even playing in any one specific game.

Boston did win the day after Pivetta's first two starts. The Red Sox did not win on Thursday (they lost 3-2 vs. Toronto) after Pivetta's third start. That was largely due to the fact that manager Alex Cora was not allowed to manage on Thursday because he supposedly got COVID-19.

So Cora is out at least for a few days and for the Tampa Bay series (Friday through Sunday).

I really actually like how Cora managed Wednesday night's game. Especially with Pivetta.

Instead of taking him out of the game before the top of the second inning was over, he decided to leave him in there. That was probably a good decision and the right decision.

Boston's offense could have came back from that deficit if they really wanted to. But they did not want to.

Cora's managing should allow the Red Sox to win at least two games between now and after Monday's game. That's the first five games after Pivetta's start.

The managing of Cora also allowed Pivetta to get better in a real game situation.

And Cora also had to consider when and where to pitch Tanner Houck who is unvaccinated by all accounts and won't be making the trip to Toronto because of that.

I really hope and pray that Houck actually does not get COVID-19 vaccinated ever because I think the COVID-19 vaccines are extremely dangerous and deadly.

I could and would write more about how Nick Pivetta has not pitched well this regular season (and has a 10.03 ERA), but I think you get the point. Pivetta's very true run average and true run average is also 10.03 (before the April 21st game).

And I think you get the point that Ryan Brasier and Kutter Crawford are also not good pitchers on this Boston team right now despite the fact that Brasier's 2.70 ERA right now (before the April 21st game) is extremely misleading (when his more accurate very true run average and true run average is 10.80).

In other words, Brasier's pitching performance this season more closely resembles a 10.80 ERA and not 2.70. But ERA is a flawed number and statistic.

Kutter Crawford's ERA (and true run average) right now is 15.75, but his very true run average is actually 14.63. Not much better.

I could also talk about how Tyler Danish and Phillips Valdez each pitched two scoreless innings on Wednesday night. But I'm not going to do that. I'm going to save that for another day.

Matt Barnes also gave up a run in one inning pitched on Wednesday night as well. Barnes still has not given up a run (or a partial run) in a Red Sox win yet this season. The Red Sox are 1-3 when Barnes has appeared in a game this regular season. That doesn't say a whole lot except for the fact that Barnes probably is only going to be used when absolutely necessary for the time being.

Barnes has also had two scoreless games.

Before Thursday's game the Red Sox were 6-6 and now they are 6-7.

I will end this story by quoting what I wrote (but never publicly published) before Thursday's game:

The Boston Red Sox offense are clearly due for a scoring outburst within probably the next two to four games. Based on their current trend of scoring three runs on Monday, two runs on Tuesday and one run on Wednesday, they will score zero runs today and lose. So I expect them to score more than three runs either today, tomorrow or on Saturday for sure.

NOTE: Very true run average and run average include all runs scored. So they are not like earned runs. Very true run average is more accurate than true run average because it doesn't blame a pitcher for allowing a baserunner to start on second base in extra innings. True run average blames the pitcher for allowing a baserunner to start on second base to start extra innings. Other than that, very true run average and true run average are more accurate and truthful than earned run average (earned runs) and run average (runs).

(Final Note: This story was posted on April 22nd, 2022, but all statistics are before the Thursday, April 21st, 2022 game vs. the Toronto Blue Jays)

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Actual won-lost records in the 2022 regular season for Boston Red Sox pitchers depending on the Boston Red Sox win/loss result for any one specific game

NEW: The "wins" are all games that the Boston Red Sox actually won. The "wins" are percentages of innings pitched for each pitcher. All of the percentages of innings pitched (of games the Red Sox actually won) are then added together to get "wins", which is what you see below. The "losses" can be thought of as the percentage of runs any one pitcher allowed the opposing team to score. These percentages of how many runs a pitcher allows in any one game to score are then added together for every game (and only of the games that the Red Sox actually lost) to get "losses". Pitchers who start any extra inning are blamed for allowing a baserunner to start the inning at second base (and any other additional bases they allow that baserunner to advance) if that baserunner eventually scores. The winning percentage is wins divided by wins plus losses.

Matt Barnes .111 wins and .417 losses (.211 win pct.)

Ryan Brasier .148 wins and .625 losses (.192 win pct.)

Kutter Crawford .259 wins and .635 losses (.290 win pct.)

Tyler Danish 0 wins and 0 losses (Not applicable. Hasn't been in a game yet the Boston Red Sox actually won and he also hasn't given up any runs yet at all. So technically that means he's a winner. 1.000 win pct.)

Austin Davis .185 wins and .083 losses (.690 win pct.)

Jake Diekman .333 wins and .125 losses (.727 win pct.)

Nathan Eovaldi 1.074 wins and .500 losses (.682 win pct.)

Rich Hill .481 wins and .500 losses (.491 win pct.)

Tanner Houck 1.000 wins and 0.000 losses (1.000 win pct.)

Nick Pivetta 0.000 wins and 2.333 losses (.000 win pct.)

Hansel Robles .444 wins and 0.000 losses (1.000 win pct.)

Hirokazu Sawamura .074 wins and .281 losses (.208 win pct.)

Matt Strahm .519 wins and 0.000 losses (1.000 win pct.)

Phillips Valdez 0 wins and 0 losses (Not applicable. Hasn't been in a game yet the Boston Red Sox actually won and he also hasn't given up any runs yet at all. So technically that means he's a winner. 1.000 win pct.)

Michael Wacha .556 wins and .333 losses (.625 win pct.)

Garrett Whitlock .815 wins and .167 losses (.830 win pct.)

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Actual won-lost records in the 2022 regular season for Boston Red Sox pitchers not depending on whether the Boston Red Sox actually win any one specific game or not.

In other words, this tells the complete picture of their entire regular season (the good and the bad) of how many people the pitcher got out (innings pitched) and how many runs the pitcher truthfully gave up (which is more accurate than runs or even earned runs given up). So to make this more easy for people to understand, starting pitchers don't 100% get blamed for the inherited runners that the reliever(s) allow to score. The starter will get 25%, 50% or 75% blame for giving up one run instead, for an inherited runner that eventually scores.

Also, a pitcher can get a partial win and a partial loss in the same game. So pitchers that throw more innings pitched are going to get a higher percentage of partial wins and pitchers who give up more runs are going to get a higher percentage of partial losses. So if one pitcher pitches a complete game he will get one win (regardless of the team's win/loss result) and if the pitcher's team actually loses that same game in which he was the only pitcher who pitched for his team, he will also get credit for one loss.

The only time any pitcher cannot take a loss or a partial loss is if the winning team doesn't give up any runs to the team they are playing.

Basically, this is truly giving credit where credit is due among pitchers only.

NEW: The "wins" are percentages of innings pitched for each game for each pitcher. All of the percentages of each game are then added together and the sum total of all percentages for each game are "wins" (whether the Red Sox actually won that specific game or not) and are what you see below. The "losses" can be thought of as the percentage of runs that any one pitcher allowed the opposing team to score for each game. All of the percentages of runs given up for each game are then added together and the sum total of all of those numbers are the "losses" and what you see below. The "losses" presented here are represented as the total number of potential losses that a pitcher could have if the Red Sox actually lost every single game in which a pitcher gave up a run(s). The winning percentage is wins divided by wins plus losses.

Matt Barnes .458 wins and .417 losses (.524 win pct.) 4 innings pitched

Ryan Brasier .368 wins and 1.792 losses (.170 win pct.) 3 1/3 innings pitched

Kutter Crawford .444 wins and .957 losses (.317 win pct.) 2 1/3 innings pitched

Tyler Danish .222 wins and 0.000 losses (1.000 win pct.) 2 innings pitched

Austin Davis .463 wins and .369 losses (.556 win pct.) 4 innings pitched

Jake Diekman .367 wins and .232 losses (.612 win pct.) 3 1/3 innings pitched

Nathan Eovaldi 1.574 wins and 1.786 losses (.469 win pct.) 14 2/3 innings pitched

Rich Hill 1.000 wins and 1.500 losses (.400 win pct.) 4 1/3 innings pitched

Tanner Houck 1.000 wins and .583 losses (.632 win pct.) 9 innings pitched

Nick Pivetta 1.375 wins and 2.333 losses (.371 win pct.) 11 2/3 innings pitched

Hansel Robles .544 wins and .000 losses (1.000 win pct.) 5 innings pitched

Hirokazu Sawamura .569 wins and .281 losses (.669 win pct.) 3 2/3 innings pitched

Matt Strahm .669 wins and 0.250 losses (.728 win pct.) 6 innings pitched

Phillips Valdez .801 wins and 0.000 losses (1.000 win pct.) 5 2/3 innings pitched

Michael Wacha 1.097 wins and .333 losses (.767 win pct.) 9 1/3 innings pitched

Garrett Whitlock 1.048 wins and .167 losses (.863 win pct.) 9 2/3 innings pitched

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Wins, Losses, Holds, Blown Saves and Saves that everybody understands

Matt Barnes

Ryan Brasier Hold 1, Blown Saves 1

Kutter Crawford 1-1

Austin Davis 0-1

Jake Diekman Holds 4 Saves 1

Nathan Eovaldi 1-0

Rich Hill

Tanner Houck 1-0

Nick Pivetta 0-3

Hansel Robles 1-0 Holds 1 Saves 1

Hirokazu Sawamura

Matt Strahm 1-0 Holds 1

Phillips Valdez

Michael Wacha

Garrett Whitlock 1-0 Blown Saves 1 Saves 1