Nick Pivetta is aware.
“Yeah, I am competitive,” he said. “I know it gets a little nauseating sometimes. But it’s just how I run my life, and it’s what I like to be. And I hold myself to that standard of, you know, no matter what, I want that chance to help our team and be in those moments that are the most competitive. I want to be on the mound and helping us win.
“In my mind, what we’re doing every game is life or death. And it’s a very important time of the year. And I take it very seriously. I take what I do very seriously, and I care a lot about it. I care about the success of the organization, success of my teammates, the ones around me, and I want to lead by example on that.”
If that quote were to be read aloud — fast and as if it was one long sentence without punctuation — it would give the gist of what it’s like to get a peek into the mind and motivation of the pitcher who made sure the Padres’ season did not crater when beset by injury and inconsistency elsewhere in the starting rotation.
There is just so much about Pivetta and why he is having his best season in his first season in San Diego.
He is under the tutelage of Ruben Niebla, who, among other things, moved Pivetta to the first base side of the rubber to change the angle at which he moves toward the plate. Pivetta has incorporated different pitches in different counts. He has studied opponents and the nuances of pitching more than he did before. He has embraced the counsel of other veteran pitchers.
“I think it’s just years of experience, trial and error,” Pivetta said. “Obviously, I’m executing my pitches better this year, walking guys not as much. I’m being a little more efficient with my pitch mix, with the way I’m pitching. So I think all of those things along with being here in a new organization. Ruben has obviously helped me a lot. The veterans have helped me a lot, getting in the team chemistry. I don’t think it’s just one thing. I think it’s just like building blocks, just slowly kind of moving in the right direction, just trying to put things together and working on the things I need to, adding or subtracting a pitch, and kind of just learning from my process.”
Nick Pivetta #27 of the San Diego Padres pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Petco Park on Tuesday, July 8, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
These things are worth exploring.
It seems especially appropriate to do so now, now that he is about to face his former team in Friday’s series opener against the Red Sox at Petco Park.
And, moreover, now that the Padres are closing in on a postseason berth and in position to challenge for their first National League West title in 19 years.
For all the moves A.J. Preller made at last week’s trade deadline to round out the roster, the Padres wouldn’t have been in position for those moves to make sense had the team not signed Pivetta as spring training began in February.
He was the best starter available at that late date, a guy they figured would eat innings and maybe perform better than his 4.76 career ERA.
Nick Pivetta #27 of the San Diego Padres pitches in the rain during the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on May 05, 2025 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Pivetta has become the Padres’ best starter, in part because their presumptive best starters got hurt (Yu Darvish, Michael King) or didn’t pitch all that well (Dylan Cease) but mostly because he has been better than ever.
Through 22 starts, Pivetta ranks seventh in the National League in ERA (2.73), second in batting average allowed (.191), third in WHIP (0.94) and seventh in quality starts (14).
He never finished any of his eight previous seasons with better than a 4.04 ERA, .208 average allowed or 1.12 WHIP.
Pivetta always had excellence in him. He just didn’t always show it.
Pivetta allowed six hits and a run in a complete game in 2019 and two hits and a run in a complete game in ‘22.
From 2019 through last season, he went at least six innings while allowing no runs and no more than one hit six times. Only Dylan Cease and Blake Snell had more such starts in that span.
But Pivetta was prone to both the big inning and the big fly.
He allowed five or more runs in five or fewer innings in 17% (31) of his 178 starts before this season. Just seven pitchers had more such starts in that span.
His 1.54 home runs per nine innings from 2017 through 2024 were more than all but 23 starting pitchers in the major leagues.
The Phillies and Red Sox won 48% of the 178 starts Pivetta made for them.
The Padres have won 64% of Pivetta’s 22 starts.
He has gone at least six innings while allowing three or fewer hits and zero or one run seven times this season, including twice throwing seven scoreless innings while allowing one hit.
He has allowed five or more runs just three times in 2025, and he finished six innings in one of those.
He is allowing one homer per nine innings.
Nick Pivetta #27 of the San Diego Padres pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Petco Park on Tuesday, July 8, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The changes have been more simple and subtle than drastic.
“Just the small, finite stuff that adds to a bigger granular thing,” Pivetta said. “And then it shows it in the stats and how I’m doing.”
The way Pivetta and others tell it is that a series of tweaks to his mechanics and changes in environment, habits and pitch selection have worked in concert to create this entirely more effective pitcher.
The biggest and first change was his move on the rubber. The alteration, at Niebla’s behest, allows Pivetta to stay “directional” toward the plate and “behind” his pitches. It has helped him be more consistent with a fastball that gets almost as much induced vertical break as any pitcher in the majors and has gotten him in the strike zone more with his curveball, which was already his go-to weapon.
Pivetta’s sinker has gotten better and is being used more. His cutter as well.
Pivetta is not afraid to say, too, that “I think I’ve just more dove into my scouting report.”
Niebla is a biomechanical evangelist. He probably could spot a delivery flaw with one eye covered and the other half-closed. He has proven adept at teaching his pitchers new pitches.
But his staff also raves about his ability to encourage and espouse the mental approach to pitching.
Niebla didn’t know much about Pivetta in February beyond the fact he had a couple good pitches and often had trouble keeping runs off the board.
“I think the biggest thing that has surprised me was his ability to stay in the moment and actually rise to the occasion, rise to the moment, because of his conviction of what he has,” Niebla said.
“And that was the one thing that I was like, ‘OK, what happens when stuff starts happening behind him? Is he able to, like, push through this, continue to make pitches, not try to overdo pitches, stay within himself and have that ability to have that confidence to be able to do that?’ And I think he’s shown that to us.
“He has confidence, and he’s a competitor. So he’s checking two major boxes. Because when he’s out there in the moment, you know that at least you’re always going to have those two. And so when you have those two, those eventually translate into the conviction of the pitch, and the conviction of the pitch shows up.”
Padres starting pitcher Nick Pivetta talks with umpire Alfonso Marquez during the second inning of Friday’s game against the Cardinals. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Anyone who has watched Pivetta stalk and stomp and gesticulate and glare and snap his glove to catch a throw from the catcher after a bad call and shout after an inning-ending out can easily surmise how much Pivetta’s intensity is part of his game.
“He’s one of the better competitors I’ve seen,” said starting pitcher Joe Musgrove, who is a bit of a competitor himself. “I think that trumps a lot of the other categories that people tend to put a lot more of their focus on.”
This is not unusual among high achievers with a certain kind of personality. But there is a level at which Pivetta operates that causes teammates and others in the organization to cryptically refer to him as “unique” and “different” and “kind of a trip.”
All of those adjectives come with implied respect and are accompanied by a chuckle.
Pivetta, while unfailingly polite about it, is often short and can sometimes be dismissive of the media. Teammates say he doesn’t like to talk about himself.
They also say he is entirely invested in those on his side.
“You can be a super competitor and not care about your teammates, because you’re just out there competing,” King said. “But he could not be more of a helpful teammate.”
Padres starting pitcher Nick Pivetta works against the Rockies on Friday. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
On Monday night, Pivetta intently watched new starter JP Sears pitch, talking about it with other starters the entire time and offering feedback to Sears.
King said Pivetta “has asked me every detail about my rehab” from a shoulder issue. He can often be overheard talking about pitch selection, sequences and other details with his fellow pitchers.
But play him in ping-pong at the table in the clubhouse, and it’s a different story.
“While he is in competition, he’s making it like his World Series,” King said this week. “We played chess on the way (to the hotel) last night, and he was pissed I beat him. That kind of guy is who you want to take the ball every fifth day.”
It might not be a coincidence that the Padres have won nine of the 11 games Pivetta has started following a loss. Four times, those victories stopped a losing streak.
“Yeah, I want to beat guys,” Pivetta said. “I take great pride. It’s why I play this game. I want to beat the best players on the field. I want to best them, because that’s what we live for, and that’s what our goals are. It’s not a disrespectful way. It’s just (that) I want to be better than other guys. I want to be better than my teammates, I want to be better than everybody I can possibly be, because that’s just what I like to do.”
Originally Published: August 7, 2025 at 3:00 PM PDT