Through two career starts, it's been a mixed bag for 24-year-old Nick Pivetta.
He has 11 strikeouts and one walk in 10 innings, which is good.
He's allowed four home runs, which is bad.
He's induced 20 swinging strikes in two starts — good.
He's thrown first-pitch strikes to just 19 of 48 hitters (39.5 percent) — bad.
"Pivetta certainly has good enough stuff to be successful," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said after Friday's 4-2 loss, the Phils' fourth straight defeat (see Instant Replay). "I think he's going to be pretty good. But he had trouble locating all his pitches."
MLB
Pivetta, a level-headed kid, was unhappy with his inability to last longer than five innings. He also lamented the fact that he didn't locate his fastball inside enough throughout the night.
Through four innings it was a 2-0 game, and Pivetta himself struck out with the bases loaded to end a potential Phillies threat in the bottom of the fourth. The next half-inning, Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon, two of the game's hottest hitters, greeted him with solo home runs. At that point, most knew the Phillies wouldn't be coming back against Stephen Strasburg and the 20-9 Nats.
Some questioned Mackanin's decision to bat Pivetta with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth given the rarity of a run-scoring opportunity against Strasburg. But keep in mind the Phillies are coming off a road trip in which their relievers averaged 4.5 innings per game.
"No, we're having enough trouble getting innings out of our starters and that's what we need as much as anything right now," Mackanin said of the decision.
Pivetta was not beside himself in the Phillies' clubhouse after the game, but rather realistic about the adjustments he needs to make.
"I'm settling in pretty well but I've got to be better at getting through the game without 100 pitches in the fifth inning," he said. "I've got to get to the sixth, seventh, eighth inning, especially with us going 13 innings yesterday and having a travel day. It's not really acceptable.
"I'm not too happy about that, but it is my second start. I'll give myself a little bit of a break right now. But what I did tonight doesn't really show who I am as a pitcher."
The Phillies made Strasburg work. He threw a career-high 119 pitches in 5⅔ innings but the Phils just couldn't come up with that one big hit. That's really the story of the last week for this team — keeping things close against playoff-bound teams but coming up just short.
Strasburg became the first National League pitcher since Ted Lilly in 2009 to throw that many pitches in fewer than six innings without allowing a run.
The Phillies scored two in the seventh on doubles by Odubel Herrera and Tommy Joseph, and they got the leadoff man on in the ninth inning to set up three chances to tie the game. But Aaron Altherr and Herrera struck out, and Maikel Franco grounded out to end the game.
Franco has driven in 25 runs in 27 games, but he has just 24 hits and is batting .229. Consistency continues to elude him. Every time it seems like he's ready to break out, he has an 0-for-4 or 1-for-5.
"He's always been that way," Mackanin said. "We were talking … I'd like to see him get hot for a week and carry the team for a week. At some point, I think he'll get to that point but we're looking for somebody to do that."
The Phillies need it sooner rather than later. At 12-16, they're on a 69-93 pace.