Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest » Blog Archive » Buzz Doesn’t Translate to Success

Buzz Doesn’t Translate to Success


By Mike Silva ~ August 30th, 2010. Filed under: Mike Silva, Yanks Minors.

Ivan Nova won his first big league ballgame, and provided the Yankees with a much needed win in the process. Combing the blogosphere this morning this quote by Benjamin Kabak of River Avenue Blues stood out to me:

Ivan Nova isn’t one of the heralded arms leading the Yankee farm system this season. He doesn’t generate the same kind of buzz as a Brackman, Betances or Banuelos does. But for the second straight start, he has beguiled Major League hitters, lending stability to a shaky Yankee rotation. On Sunday, he earned himself the game ball as he picked up his first Big League win.

In the age of the internet everyone has an opinion, and is an expert. It’s amazing how certain players (i.e. Joba Chamberlain) are latched onto and made out to be bigger than life. Meanwhile, someone like Nova flies through the system virtually unnoticed, even though he always had potential.

The reason is numbers, something we debate here all the time. It’s so hard to translate minor league numbers to the big league level. Yes, there are equivalency calculators, but you really don’t know how a kid will translate unless you get to see him on a daily basis. That is why many had Arodys Vizcaino on their Top 10 prospect list, while our very own Jed Weisberger of MILB threw out names like Nova, David Phelps, and Eduardo Nunez. That’s because he spends time around the ballpark, talks to scouts, and knows how to translate the numbers to make a projection. The numbers don’t tell us work ethic, desire, physical limitations, or willingness to improve. This isn’t an indictment on anyone, but more how numbers can skew the hype and expectations.

Who knows what Ivan Nova‘s future brings? I still think he needs to mix up his secondary pitches because he continues to be all fastball in each of his first two starts. What I do know is the Yankees may have found a quality pitcher who just two years ago was struggling in High A Tampa. No hype, no adulation, just hard work and development. The more we think we know about prospects, the less we really do.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com
Mike Silva
View all posts by Mike Silva
Mikes website

Post to Twitter Post to Yahoo Buzz Post to Delicious Post to Digg Post to Facebook

Tags: ,

«
»

4 Responses to Buzz Doesn’t Translate to Success

  1. dana
    August 30th, 2010 at 9:20 am

    do you ever have anything but negativity & bogus concern to say about the Yankees? I understand you’re a jealous Mets fan but you should try a show a little parity towards the yankees if you have any plans of ever expanding this career of yours to anything more than an irrelevant, repetitive & boring internet blogger.

  2. Viper
    August 30th, 2010 at 10:18 am

    Dana

    Yep, that’s pretty much it. That’s all Silva knows and why nobody takes him seriously.

    Blah, blah, blah. The sky is falling for Yankee fans!

  3. BenVinutti
    August 30th, 2010 at 11:50 am

    Mike Silva said,
    “I still think he needs to mix up his secondary pitches because he continues to be all fastball in each of his first two starts.”

    Um, did you even watch any of these games? Nova threw a ton of breaking balls in both starts – they were largely rolling and ineffective in the first start, much better in the second. He probably threw less than 75% fastballs each start. And what’s wrong with fastballs anyway, so long as they don’t get hit?

    Stick to reporting on the Mets, you have zero credibility with NYY fans.

  4. Mike Silva
    August 30th, 2010 at 12:35 pm

    If you go to Brooks Baseball and his F/x tool, 70% of his pitches were fastball, 24 curveballs, as I even said on the show, its better, but its just a concern, not a statement of impending doom. I did my research so should you.

Leave a Reply