Ivan Nova Still “Learning” About The Yankees Bullpen Role On The Fly

Only four years ago, after his 15th consecutive victory, Yankees pitcher Ivan Nova cooed an ultra bold declaration.

“If you ask me who’s the best pitcher in the world”, Nova said. “I say me. You know, you have to believe it. That’s why you win so many games.”

Maybe it was just a 25 year-old riding high and shooting off his mouth or perhaps deep down he truly believed there wasn’t a better hurler on God’s green earth.

Either way, we can all agree that statement is null and void at the present moment.

On Wednesday in his second appearance in his new role coming out the bullpen, the now 29-year-old was abysmal. His first pitch was lined for a double by Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson and his second pitch got by catcher Austin Romine.  From there, it got no better.

After the eighth inning had mercifully ended, Nova’s line was hard to digest.

1 IP, 25 pitches, 5 H, 4 R, 1 HPB

This disastrous performance took the Yankees out of the game and was a far cry from Nova’s first outing of the year versus the Astros, where in four innings he gave up four hits, zero runs and five strikeouts.

Injuries and inconsistency have derailed a once promising career that landed the right-hander in the bullpen in the first place.  After a sub-par spring, Nova ultimatley lost his starting job to CC Sabathia and became the long man in the pen.  A far cry from the “best pitcher in the world”.

However, looking at Nova’s capacity on the Yankees squad, we need to put on our optimism hats.  It’s mid-April and we seen Good Ivan and Bad Ivan in two outings, as he tries to adapt a less attractive new role.  But, if the latter becomes a more active participant, Nova may find himself a permanent garbage man to mop up squandered innings.

After his impressive performance against the Astros on April 7th, Nova described the bullpen experience as “weird”. On Thursday, manager Joe Girardi described his reliever’s struggles as a “learning thing”.

Oh, what a difference a few years make….and a few quotes.

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