Nova taking ‘Happ path’ to riches
Ivan Nova, despite a rough outing Sunday, is taking the J.A. Happ path to free agent riches.
The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Happ last season on July 31 from the Mariners in a trade after he struggled mightily in his first 鈥� and only 鈥� year with Seattle. He went 4-6 with a 4.64 ERA in 21 games, including 20 starts.
The left-hander then turned went 7-2 with a 1.85 ERA in 11 starts with the Pirates and signed a three-year, $36-million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays in November.
Nova was 7-6 with a 4.90 ERA in 21 games, including 15 starts, for the New York Yankees this season before they traded him to the Pirates on Aug. 1. The 29-year-old has been outstanding since, going 5-1 with a 2.93 ERA in nine starts, taking his first loss Sunday when he gave up five runs in three innings to the Reds at Cincinnati.
Nova gives much of the credit to Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage, who is known for his ability to 鈥渇ix鈥� pitchers with his friendly and low-key manner that enables him to easily connect with his pupils.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a great pitching coach,鈥� Nova said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e having fun here with him. I think that鈥檚 one of the keys. It gives me the confidence to go out there and have fun and do the best that you can. We couldn鈥檛 always have fun in New York.鈥�
Nova, 29, did not mean that as a shot at Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild, but rather to the fact that New York is the largest media market in the country while Pittsburgh is among the smallest markets in professional sports.
Nova admits that he wasn鈥檛 wild at first about being the trade.
Except for spending time with the San Diego Padres during spring training in 2009 after being selected in the Rule 5 Draft, Nova had been with the Yankees鈥� organization for his entire career, including seven seasons in the major league. He signed with the Yankees in 2006 as an amateur free agent from the Dominican Republic.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to get traded,鈥� Nova said. 鈥淭his is not what I was looking for. Stuff like that happens, though. I鈥檓 happy to be here. It鈥檚 a good group of guys who want to win, and I鈥檓 trying to do the best I can to help them win.鈥�
Nova is pitching so well that he almost certainly has priced himself out of returning to the Pirates next season. He seems in line to gain a larger contract than Happ, especially with the upcoming winter鈥檚 free agent market thin on starting pitching.
鈥淧itching prices are only going up and he鈥檚 picked the perfect time to pitch well,鈥� a scout from an American League team said of Nova. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a No. 4 on a good team, but those guys get $15 million a year now if they reach free agency. I can see him getting three years and $45 million, probably more.鈥�