PEORIA, Ariz. — Nick Pivetta has worked the mild fatigue out of his right arm. Getting the nod for an opening day assignment at this point might be just a matter of taking good work in his return to the mound on Saturday afternoon and continuing to build from there.

The 33-year-old pitched into the fourth inning in the Padres’ 8-5 win over the Guardians, struck out four and threw 56 pitches (34 strikes) in three-plus innings. He allowed two runs on two hits and two walks, with the last run crossing the plate after he exited after facing two hitters in the fourth inning.

The appearance was Pivetta’s first since March 3.

“Yeah, everything seemed to click pretty well,” Pivetta said. “Rest seemed to do me right. Like I said, it was just nice to be back out there, feel the mound again, face hitters. Just a good day.”

First-year manager Craig Stammen has not yet named an opening day starter, but Pivetta — who led last year’s starters in wins (13), ERA (2.87) and innings (181⅔) — could be in line for one more Cactus League start in five to six days, which would give him five or six days of rest ahead of the opener on March 26 against the Tigers.

Such an assignment would be the first honor of Pivetta’s career, but he’s hardly thinking about that after finally getting back on the mound after 10 days between Cactus League starts. Besides, Pivetta, who turned down the opportunity to pitch for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic, is more concerned about pitching well in September and October than starting Game 1 of 162.

“I’m just not focused on it, to be honest with you,” Pivetta said. “I mean, whatever happens, happens. I want to win a World Series. That’s the most important thing. I believe in all my teammates. What matters is September, not earlier in the year.”

Saturday’s start was rather uneventful outside of a comebacker off his left (non-throwing) hand in the first inning and the homer that he allowed to Petey Halpin with two outs in the third inning. Pivetta fetched a double-play ball after the first walk he issued and was lifted for left-hander Kyle Hart after allowing a leadoff single and a walk to start the fourth inning.

While sitting 94 to 96 mph with his four-seamer was a good sign that Pivetta’s fatigue was behind him, he knew after a bullpen earlier in the week that he was already putting the small setback in the rear-view mirror.

“I threw a good side a couple days ago,” Pivetta said. “So I think there’s more checkmarks that are along the way than just this game today. I think everything else leading up to that was pretty much where I need to be.”

The call(s) for Hawkins

Garrett Hawkins received two life-changing calls on the heels of last year’s breakout. The first, from pitching coordinator James Keller, arrived in November, about half an hour before the deadline to add Rule-5 eligible prospects to the 40-man roster.

The 26-year-old had been waiting quite a bit longer for the call he received from longtime Team Canada coach Greg Hamilton in January.

An invitation to participate in the World Baseball Classic was a no-brainer after Hawkins struck out 80 batters over 60 innings (1.50 ERA) while rising from high Single-A Fort Wayne to Double-A San Antonio, but Hawkins’ decision was not.

So Hawkins took his time. In the end, only one answer made sense at this point in his career:

Not now.

“Definitely something I wanted to do since high school and just was never really that good,” Hawkins said of the opportunity to pitch for Team Canada. “ … So I was really happy to get the call just in general …  but yeah, just the wrong year. …

“This was my first big-league camp and I wanted to get the most out of the opportunity of being here.”

Big-league camp officially ended for Hawkins on Friday with his option to Triple-A El Paso, but face time should continue as a minor league addition to Cactus League games, where Hawkins had seven strikeouts while allowing three runs over six innings. It had already been important for Hawkins to spend his first real time with pitching coach Ruben Niebla. Among the to-dos in camp had been refining the splitter that baseball operations special assistant Hideo Nomo showed him in instructional league after he dominated out of the bullpen — with essentially a fastball-gyro-slider mix by the end of the season — in his first year back from Tommy John surgery.

Given his current trajectory, perhaps Team Canada will come calling again in two years for the Olympics if professional baseball has a place in that tournament or in three/four years for the next WBC.

“I think I’m kind of ready for that stage and the experience of it all,” said Hawkins, a ninth-round pick out of British Columbia in 2021. “… Sure, I can see that. Just the wrong timing this year.”

 

Notable

RHP Bryan Hoeing will undergo his season-ending, flexor tendon surgery on Tuesday. “Imaging showed some wear and tear obviously in there,” Hoeing said. “But more so just going off how I feel because imaging doesn’t always show the full picture. Going off how I felt, obviously I wasn’t feeling right.”
RHP Jason Adam (quad) struck out all six batters he faced — Mason McCoy, Samad Taylor and Anthony Vilar, twice each — while throwing 25 pitches in a simulated game on a backfield at the Peoria Sports Complex. Afterward, Adam ran through individual fielding drills with runners on base. Adam is expected to make his Cactus League debut on Tuesday.