Trying to find the 2018 version of Nick Pivetta

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty ImagesThere’s a common thread among fans of all baseball teams — and really this would generally apply to fans of any sports team, I’d think — in which we all cling onto some sort of intangible potential for a player for years and years. At some point, whether it be as a prospect or for a stretch in the majors, or both, said player displayed potential to be an impact player, and they just couldn’t recapture that. Think Jackie Bradley Jr. or Andrew Benintendi or Nathan Eovaldi, among many, many other examples over the years with the Red Sox. It’s a frustrating experience as a fan to have that hope and continue to look for it, only to be disappointed again and again and again. Over the weekend, when the Red Sox traded Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree to the Phillies, they got the Phillies version of this phenomenon in Nick Pivetta.

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