Super Nova

Ivan Nova pitched last night for the Scranton Yankees and had an incredible performance, striking out 10 batters.  He only pitched 7 innings and they only reason he was pulled from the game was due to being hit by a line drive in the leg.  He limped off the field, but there is no serious injury to worry about.  10 strikeouts is Nova’s best so far and by all accounts, Nova was on fire yesterday.

Not only did he strike out 10, but Nova didn’t allow any walks.  He allowed 6 hits on the night, but only 3 of those hits were actually hit hard and the other three squeaked through the infield.  At one point during the game Nova had retired 13 batters in a row!  He was ahead in the count on just about all batters and threw a total of 98 pitches – 72 of which were strikes.  He didn’t play around too much with his secondary pitches (slider, changeup) but mainly used fastballs (92-94 mph) and curveballs all night.

By far and away this was the best performance of any Triple-A Yankee so far, and among the best starts for Ivan Nova.  I guess all that time in the big leagues helped him out quite a bit.  Hopefully he can continue pitching well and will be called back up by the Yankees soon. 

It wouldn’t be fair to start comparing Nova’s start in Triple-A to Hughes’ start for the Yankees, but there are roster decisions to be made following the All-Star break and Nova is making it difficult to argue with his success.  All I can say is that It would be a shame to waste Nova’s talents in Triple-A & a 6 man rotation may be necessary.

Read More About Nova & Hughes RIGHT HERE

Read About Hughes’ Last Start RIGHT HERE

UPDATE JULY 19:  Nova will likely pitch again tonight for the Scranton Yankees.  This will be his third appearance in Triple-A since being sent down.  Although his second appearance was not as dominant as his first (above), he still pitched 7 innings of 3 run ball.  Nova allowed 1 walk but did strike out 5 batters before taking the loss.