PT TOMORROW: AL East—What are the secrets to Sox six?

Boston Red Sox

Two five-inning, one-run starts to close the 2020 season apparently were not enough to lock Nick Pivetta (RHP, BOS) into a rotation spot to start the 2021, per returning manager Alex Cora. That's perhaps as it should be, given Pivetta's prolonged stretch of ineffectiveness that caused him to fall out of favor in Philadelphia. Even those two otherwise strong season-closing starts featured five walks, albeit alongside 13 strikeouts.

But Pivetta might also benefit from Cora's apparent openness to deploying a six-man rotation. In such a scenario, Pivetta, who is likely to make the team in one capacity or another as he is out of options, would be competing for one of two spots behind Eduardo Rodriguez (LHP, BOS), Nathan...

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