Phillies Starter Nick Pivetta Looks Improved, But Is It Simply an Illusion?

It’s still early in the baseball season. At some point of the year, we all just get to indulge our inner Potter Stewart. We know the transition from early to not early when we see it. And we haven’t seen it yet.

We have, however, reached one nebulous milestone on the baseball calendar. It may still be early, but we’re nearing three weeks worth of games. Most starting pitchers have taken the ball three times, while everyday players have racked up anywhere between 60 and 80 plate appearances, depending on how many games their teams have played. It’s still early, but we can look at some performances around the league and ask ourselves the following question.

Is this real? Let’s take a look at…