Bomber Bites: Ivan Nova’s Health Will Be Vital To Yankees Success In 2015

The way the New York Yankees rotation currently stacks up doesn’t exactly lead you to believe its championship caliber. It doesn’t make you think of the rotations of 10 years ago with Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, David Wells and so on.  There are health and age and ability questions with all of the potential members of the rotation. That rotation could get a big internal boost in May or June.

Ivan Nova struggled during the early part of 2014, going 2-2 with an ERA over 8.00. Then tests revealed he needed Tommy John surgery and that he would be lost for the season. At one point, the Yankees were without 80 percent of their rotation, and even though offense was the main issue in 2014, being without four starters isn’t exactly helping your chances.

Nova was pitching some of his best ball at the end of 2013, going 5-4 with a 2.78 ERA including a 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA in August. He’s more of a groundball kind of pitcher. In 2013,  53.5% of batted balls against Nova were on the ground per Fangraphs. Considering the improvement in the infield defense with a full year of Chase Headley and new acquisition Didi Gregorious, Nova could even get better.

Nova isn’t a cure all to the Yankees rotation. If the top three get healthy and Chris Capuano can be steady, Nova can be thrown into the mix in May or June when he comes back and give the team a boost in the rotation and maybe help get them back where they want to be.