Carolina notes: Pivetta gets positive results

Nick Pivetta didn't have much time to get settled into Spring Training this season when Paul Menhart, the recently promoted Minor League pitching coordinator for the Washington Nationals, approached him about making a change.

The talk wasn't about overhauling his approach or mechanics. Instead, Menhart wanted Pivetta to transition from using a slider to implementing a curveball in his three-pitch arsenal during the upcoming season with the Potomac Nationals. Coupled with his fastball and ever-improving changeup, a curve would be ideal for Pivetta to use late in counts, Menhart believed.

The results have been impressive, since the new pitch in Pivetta's repertoire has helped the Nationals' No. 11 prospect shine in a starting rotation that is loaded with top-level prospects at the Class A Advanced level.

Pivetta's 2.28 ERA is fifth best in the Carolina League, and he is third among starting pitchers in batting average against (.219). The Canadian-born right-hander had not allowed more than two earned runs in any appearance until his last start Sunday against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

"The curve has gotten a lot better," Pivetta said. "It seems like the right pitch for me, and that honestly has helped me out through this year. I've really been able to mix it in there."

Pivetta won eight of his first 10 starts last season with Class A Hagerstown, but inconsistencies with his slider as the season wore on resulted in a 13-8 record and 4.22 ERA.

"It was something I wanted to do," Pivetta said of the switch. "My slider wasn't hard, but it just didn't have quite the movement the curveball did. I knew that it was probably going to happen, and I knew I wanted to throw one."

Transitioning from one breaking pitch to another wasn't necessarily new for Pivetta. He said he had thrown a curve before, so he understood the arm slot he needed to use and how comfortable he needed to be for the pitch to be effective.

That understanding came from spending time on the Canadian Junior National Team, for which he played from 2009-11 before going to New Mexico Junior College. During those three seasons, Pivetta was given an opportunity to get a glimpse of the talent he was going to face once he entered the professional ranks.

"Honestly, I was one of the lucky people growing up," Pivetta said. "I was able to get a little taste of the professional skill set when I was 16 and 17. It helped a lot in the way I do things now."

Pivetta, the Nationals' fourth-round selection in the 2013 Draft, possesses a frame (6-foot-5 and 220 pounds) that projects well at each level in his development. What has helped him along the way has been taking each piece of advice -- much like Menhart's tutelage with his curveball -- and building on that with each step.

"The strides I've gone with the Washington Nationals organization is amazing -- how much I've learned about myself and how to actually pitch," Pivetta said. "From last year, I think I had a melting pot of everything that could have happened to me. I learned from it. I use it this day when I'm getting in certain situations when I'm in a game, what to do and what not to do."

Those early experiences have allowed Pivetta to feel right at home in a Potomac rotation that features Washington's No. 1 prospect, Lucas Giolito, and No. 3 prospect, Reynaldo Lopez, giving the P-Nats three of the top seven pitching prospects in Washington's farm system.

"That really helps -- feeding off each other," Pivetta said. "The stats that we have are just phenomenal right now. It's really starting to mold together, and I think it's going to be a really fun time with these guys."

In brief

Rehab gets Mudcats on track: Carolina owned the league's longest losing streak this season at 12 games, but thanks in part to Joey Terdoslavich's five-game rehab assignment in Zebulon, North Carolina, the Mudcats got back on track. Carolina won four out of the five games Terdoslavich played in as the Braves outfielder battles back from a left-wrist sprain he suffered in Spring Training. Terdoslavich, Atlanta's sixth-round selection in the 2010 Draft, hit .231 with two doubles and two RBIs in his five games with the Mudcats before being promoted to Double-A Mississippi.

Streaking to the top: Lynchburg Hillcats first baseman Nellie Rodriguez took over the Carolina League lead in RBIs with 37 thanks to an 11-game stretch in which he drove in 16 runs. Rodriguez, the Cleveland Indians' No. 27 prospect, drove in at least one run in nine straight contests. He is at his best with runners on base, hitting .317 with 12 doubles, four home runs and 35 RBIs in those situations.

Hot and cold for Sturgeon: Salem center fielder Cole Sturgeon has enjoyed two separate nine-game hitting streaks this season, which equal the fifth-longest in the Carolina League this season. Sturgeon also leads the league in plate appearances per strikeout at 9.3. However, he owns a .247 batting average thanks to a .175 mark at home.

Historic month: The Pelicans posted a 21-7 record in May, the best record in that month in team history, topping the 2014 campaign's record of 21-8. Myrtle Beach posted a .271 batting average and 3.09 team ERA in May.