After a rocky, yet successful first start with the West Coast League’s Victoria HarbourCats, Nick Pivetta got some good news Friday.
The six-foot-five, 215-pound righthanded pitcher was chosen in the fourth round, 136th overall, by the Washington Nationals in the Major League Baseball amateur draft.
Pivetta, 20, was 9-2 with a 3.36 earned-run average in 13 starts in 2013, his second season with the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds.
Given the ball for the HarbourCats’ inaugural game at Royal Athletic Park last week, he gave up eight hits and six earned runs over eight innings, but got the win as Victoria edged Kelowna 8-6.
Major League Baseball’s scouting report on Pivetta says he has “an ideal pitcher’s frame” with “the stuff to back it up.” A power pitcher whose fastball has hit the upper 90s in relief appearances, Pivetta has “a solid curveball that could be above-average in the future,” it added.
ddescoteau@vicnews.com