Iván Manuel Nova Guance (born January 12, 1987) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher.
Career[]
Minor league career[]
Nova was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Yankees in 2004. At the end of the 2008 season, Nova had not advanced beyond Class-A Advanced, where he pitched for the Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League.
In December 2008, Nova was selected by the San Diego Padres in the Rule 5 draft. However, he was returned to the Yankees after clearing outright waivers at the end of the 2009 spring training, during which he had an 8.31 earned run average (ERA), allowing eight earned runs and 13 hits in 8 2⁄3 innings pitched.
Nova advanced to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in 2009. Following the 2009 season, Nova was added to the 40-man roster, to ensure he was not selected in the Rule 5 draft again.
Major League Baseball[]
After recording a 2.43 ERA and 1.27 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) ratio over his first six starts for Scranton/Wilkes Barre, Nova was promoted to the major leagues on May 10, 2010. He pitched three shutout innings in relief before he was optioned back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Nova was recalled to the majors on August 21, and he made his first career major league start on August 23. He impressed the Yankees in his first start, and was given his second start, replacing Javier Vázquez.
Nova was named to the Yankees' starting rotation in 2011. On June 20, Nova had his longest start in his career, allowing one run in eight innings against the Cincinnati Reds, while walking none, allowing four hits and striking out seven. Nova was sent down to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre due to the return of Bartolo Colón from the disabled list, as Nova had minor league options remaining. Nova was then called back-up to the majors due to a double-header against the Baltimore Orioles on July 30. Nova solidified himself in the Yankee rotation after a 7 2⁄3 inning, six hit, one run, ten strikeout, zero walk performance against the Chicago White Sox.
Nova compiled a 16–4 record in 2011, the most wins for a Yankees rookie since Stan Bahnsen won 17 games in 1968. Nova was named to the three-man postseason starting rotation at the end of the season. He was named to the Baseball America All-Rookie Team following the season. Nova finished fourth in balloting for the American League Rookie of the Year Award.