IVAN'S APPEAL
Pirate's knack for reviving arms makes stock soar
IVAN Nova just might be the best free-agent starter available. Think about that for a moment. That speaks to a free-agent class that might be the worst ever for starters. Teams could prefer Rich Hill, who has evolved into an excellent starter. Except he is constantly hurt and turns 37 in March. Talk about never healthy, Hill’s porcelain Dodgers teammate, Brett Anderson, is in his walk year, too. So are Doug Fister and R.A. Dickey and Colby Lewis and Bartolo Colon.
This is why the White Sox should expect quite a few calls this winter about Chris Sale and Jose Quintana.
And it is why Nova might look more appealing. Well, that and he has become the latest beneficiary of joining the Pirates, who are gaining a reputation for reviving more arms than Dr. James Andrews.
Nova was obtained from the Yankees in the waning minutes before the Aug. 1 trade deadline and in five starts for the Pirates is 4-0 with a 2.87 ERA, having issued one walk in 31 ¹/3 innings.
It would be easy to dismiss this as small-sample-size illusion. Except the Pirates of recent vintage have resuscitated A.J. Burnett (also after a trade from the Yankees), Edinson Volquez, Francisco Liriano, Charlie Morton and J.A. Happ, each of whom went on to make considerably more money because of it.
Volquez, in his age-30 season, joined the Pirates in 2014 after registering a 5.71 ERA in 2013 with the Dodgers and Padres. He went 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA. He signed a twoyear, $20 million deal with the Royals and helped them win the World Series last year. Happ was obtained from Seattle at the deadline last season, went 7-2 with a 1.85 ERA for the Pirates and turned that into a three-year, $36 million deal for the Blue Jays, for whom he has become a Cy Young contender.
If outside teams believe the lessons from Pittsburgh are transferable elsewhere with Nova, who turns 30 in January, he could be looking at a deal in the Volquez/ Happ range.
Not bad for a guy who was 7-6 with a 4.90 ERA for the Yankees this year.
What changed? Well, Nova held Houston to one run on Aug. 23 in his first complete game since Sept. 21, 2013. Astros manager A.J. Hinch told me in a text message that Nova was “relentless with his fastball and sinker inside” to righties “with more power than we’ve seen in the past.”
Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage, in a phone conversation, said working inside was “one of our core values” as a staff. But Searage has gained a reputation as a revival guru by taking the combination of his wisdom and the scouting, analytics and video work of the progressive Pirates to help pitchers rediscover previous success.
Searage said Nova has been a willing pupil who is now working at PNC Park, “one of the last pitcher-friendly ballparks. He comes from Yankee Stadium and the fishbowl. I think here he can just be comfortable and compete.”
Searage described “tweaks” to Nova, such as keeping his chin down during his delivery and his eyes on the target to better allow his arm to follow a natural path, plus getting him not to start his curveball too soon in his delivery. Those subtleties helped Nova emerge as one of the majors’ best pitchers in August.
Still, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said he “had no regrets” about the deal. The Yanks determined, whether in trying to win now or to build for the future, they were best off starting Luis Cessa and Chad Green rather than Nova.
The Yankees had been trying to move Nova since last offseason, and Pittsburgh was a constant suitor. But the Yanks wanted a legitimate return for him because, Cashman said, he pointed out to clubs that Nova has pitched well against National League teams and his sinker, in particular, works when he can stay on an every-fiveday schedule.
For his career with the Yankees, Nova was 8-3 with a 2.72 ERA in interleague games.
That led to what Cashman called “a lot of interest” in Nova. The Yankees liked the Pirates’ offer best, which was two players to be named later, and who were revealed on Tuesday as A-ball outfielder Tito Polo and A-ball lefty Stephen Tarpley.
We will see if those prospects manifest into anything significant. In the present, the big winner of this trade is Nova.