Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest » Ivan Nova

Putting the Pettitte Cart Before the Horse

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

Andrew Marchand of ESPN NY has consistently been concerned about Michael Pineda‘s velocity this spring. He, along with some other members of the media and blogosphere, have almost comically tracked each Pineda pitch. The thought of sending Pineda down to the minors seemed absurd earlier in spring, but the signing of Andy Pettitte gave the meme a more […]

Time to End the Charade and Name Nova and Pineda to the Starting Rotation

Friday, March 16th, 2012

Well, Michael Pineda and Ivan Nova just completed their third spring training appearances. Lucky for Nova, his consisted of a four inning, no run, no walk affair, and Pineda has a pretty good outing yesterday, too. Glad they both performed well or each could likely have been banished to the bullpen. Or even worse – Triple-A. Yes, you heard […]

NY Baseball Stock Up/Stock Down Going Into 2012

Friday, December 30th, 2011

I always like to try new things here, so instead of doing a “year in review,” I am doing a “Stock Up/Stock Down” heading into 2012 for New York baseball. This includes a “watch list.” The list could include players, coaches, minor leaguers, and the media. Stock Up  Curtis Granderson - When the Yankees acquired […]

Yanks Have Goods to Land Lincecum, Do Giants Have the Desire?

Friday, November 4th, 2011

Dave Cameron of Fangraphs discussed how he believes the Giants may be wise to move Tim Lincecum since he projects to make $20 million dollars in arbitration, which would potentially comprise about 15% of their payroll. The Yankees have the type of prospects to land such a star pitcher in his early prime so this isn’t a crazy idea […]

After ALDS Defeat, How Bright is the Yankees Future?

Friday, October 7th, 2011

We are less than 24 hours from the Jose Valverde‘s fastball blowing away Alex Rodriguez to end the 2011 ALDS. A Yankees team that caught the hearts of its fans because of unlikely stories disappointed for the 10th time in the last 11 Octobers. You can’t blame Brian Cashman as it wouldn’t have made sense […]

Is Robinson Cano Establishing Himself as the Best 2B Ever?

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

Is Robinson Cano positioning himself to be the best second baseman in the history of baseball? It was a topic discussed yesterday on WFAN. He certainly is the best second baseman in the game today. Three straight years of a .300+ batting average, two straight years of 100+ RBI, and a gold glove makes that […]

The Yankees Postseason Rotation is Still Murky

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

The ALDS will start on Friday, September 30th. Despite the fact that we are week away, it doesn’t appear the Yankees postseason rotation is any more settled today than 10 days ago. You know CC Sabathia will take Games 1 in every series. Ivan Nova, a minor leaguer in the middle of the season, very […]

The Case for Mike Nickeas, Give Others the Nova Opportunity, Collins Burnt Out, NYY ’06 Draft

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Over the weekend I gave my analysis on the 12 Mets players who are either eligible for free agency or arbitration after the season. One of them is Ronny Paulino, who has cooled down with the bat after a hot start. Maybe it’s time to consider Mike Nickeas for the backup catcher job in 2012. He […]

Parnell and BABIP, Bill Buckner on Curb, Second Spitter, Jesus Montero and Marketing of the Future

Sunday, September 4th, 2011

Check out this blurb from a piece by Andy McCullough in the Star Ledger about Bobby Parnell: Few Mets have experienced patches of bad luck like him this season. He possesses the second-highest batting average on balls in play (.343), which measures how often a hit is recorded when the hitter makes contact. The average for a […]

A Big September Can Net Ivan Nova AL Rookie of the Year

Monday, August 29th, 2011

Update: 6:00 AM on August 30th - As Chuck Johnson and Beyond the Boxscore pointed out, Ogando is not a rookie as he had 114 days of service time. My calculation was off, and Fangraphs should not have him listed with the “rookies.” Ivan Nova won his 14th ballgame yesterday, which I believe puts him in […]

Is Hughes Future in the Bullpen, Mets Finances, Sign Stealing,Is Josh Thole a Starting Catcher, Where is Boomer?

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Ivan Nova had another strong outing last night to improve his record to 11-4. He now has 25 career starts, and is 11-4 with a 4.05 ERA. Despite a low strikeout rate (5.8), he gets an extreme number of groundballs (55%), which is what you saw on display last night. The Yankees won’t go with […]

Cashman on Burnett, Mets vs. Yanks for Pedro in ’97, Overpaid Selig, Nick Swisher Album, Matt Harvey and Learning from Generation K, Johan Santana’s Future

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Brian Cashman addressed A.J. Burnett with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts on WFAN yesterday.  We signed a pitcher who was .500. That is what his career record was. He’s a .500 pitcher. He can be electric and dominant. He’s an inconsistent guy. But what he does is give you innings, sometimes their high quality, sometimes they’re […]

Beware Verlander, The Future Starting Rotation, Munson and Teixeira HOF Credentials

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

The dog days of August start to build separation in the standings. In the AL Central, both Detroit and Cleveland made deadline deals. Cleveland made the big splash landing Ubaldo Jimenez, who will start Friday versus Texas. It may not be soon enough as the combination of newly acquired Doug Fister, and Jacoby Ellsbury‘s walk off home run […]

The Problem With Yankees Ownership, Nassau Bid Fails, Daniel Murphy the Scapegoat, Lucas Duda, Six Man Rotation

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

For as much progress the Yankees have made since the dysfunction of the eighties, you see a glimpse of how ownership has the potential to be a worry. Ken Rosenthal wrote this on Fox Sports yesterday: The Yankees on Sunday made a play for Houston Astros lefty Wandy Rodriguez, but that push was driven by ownership, not Cashman, according […]

Phil Hughes Plummeting Value, Warning on Heath Bell, More Zack Wheeler Mechanics, Is Wright Over Matt Cain?

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

During the winter of 2007-2008 the Yankees passed up on Johan Santana because they didn’t want to part with Phil Hughes. That deal didn’t haunt them in the long run as CC Sabathia has proven to be a better investment, and cost just an expensive free agent contract. Hughes was a big part of the 2009 championship team as he […]