Nick Pivetta Admires Canadian Idol

PHILADELPHIA—As a youngster on Canada’s west coast, Nick Pivetta made sure to be in front of the TV whenever his favorite pitcher was on the mound for the Blue Jays.

“Roy Halladay was my idol,” Pivetta said. “I grew up watching him. When I got home from school at 4 o’clock they’d be starting their games and I’d watch all of them.”

Pivetta, a big righthander like Halladay, recently attended the Phillies’ prospect education seminar at Citizens Bank Park. By chance, he was assigned the locker that Halladay used during his four seasons in Philadelphia after his trade from Toronto in December 2009.

“It’s surreal,” said Pivetta, 24.

A native of Victoria, B.C., Pivetta spent two years at New Mexico JC before the Nationals made him a 2013 fourth-round pick. Washington traded him to the Phillies for Jonathan Papelbon in July 2015.

Pivetta struggled at Double-A Reading after the trade, but put things together in 2016. He went 12-8, 3.27 in 27 starts between Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley while lowering his walk rate to 3.1 per nine innings and striking out 8.4 per nine. That performance earned him a spot on the 40-man roster.

“He showed us the potential to be a really good major league pitcher in 2016,” farm director Joe Jordan said. “He was a little excitable after the trade in 2015, but he came back calm and confident last year. His stuff is legit—93-96 (mph) with life on his fastball—with a good breaking ball and good feel for the changeup.”

The 6-foot-5 Pivetta likes to throw a two-seam fastball. He learned how effective that pitch can be by watching Halladay.

“I loved watching how Roy competed, how he was a true professional, how he did everything right,” Pivetta said. “I used to love to watch how he could command his two-seamer to both sides of the plate and how he really cut down on his walks.

“I’ve struggled with walks, but I want . . . to succeed like he did.”

PHIL-UPS

• The Phillies signed free agent outfielder Michael Saunders,which probably relegates Roman Quinn to Lehigh Valley at the outset of 2017.

• The Phillies’ new academy in the Dominican Republic opened in January. The club shares and co-owns the $18 million facility with the Twins.