The Braves are going to be in the market for a starter and potentially even more than one.
Spencer Strider will miss part of the 2025 season, and Max Fried is expected to part ways with Atlanta in free agency. Even if Charlie Morton returns on a one-year deal, Alex Anthopoulos would be wise to continue bolstering the rotation.
One potential target is veteran hurler Nick Pivetta, who Jeff Passan just linked to the Braves.
“Nick Pivetta, right-handed starter: He almost certainly won’t accept the qualifying offer to return to Boston; at least a three-year deal awaits Pivetta in free agency,” Passan writes. “Teams believe his stuff plays like a frontline starter, and whether it’s the Cubs, Orioles, Braves or others, Pivetta is looking at one of the biggest deals of the winter for a starter.”
Extending Pivetta a qualifying offer was smart by the Red Sox because they ensured they’d receive a compensation pick if he signed with another team. That might deter Alex Anthopoulos, though.
If it doesn’t, Nick Pivetta could prove a worthy target for the Braves. Since joining Boston via trade from the Phillies in 2020, he has pitched at least 142 innings in each of the last four seasons. He’s been a reliable innings-eater for the Red Sox.
The Braves should value durability almost more than anything after watching the rotation enter the postseason shorthanded every year since 2020. He’s started 107 games for Boston, posting a 4.29 ERA.
Most recently, Pivetta recorded a 4.14 ERA over 26 starts for the Red Sox last year. Granted, it’s not the sexiest stat line, but his expected ERA is well below that, at 3.59. His 88th percentile strikeout rate and 80th percentile walk rate are also big draws for potential suitors. The stuff plays. The veteran averaged 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings in 2023 and 10.6 in 2024 while setting a career-low mark in walks per nine (2.2).
For the Braves, he’s a high-upside option that will, at the very least, be a durable addition to the rotation.
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Photographer: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
