WHY NOVA'S STOCK HAS RISEN

It’s been a journey for the kid, Ivan Nova, but it’s been worth it as far as I can see. Last night he got his 16th win of the year. What a story. Last year Nova was a timid young pitcher who I noticed couldn’t hack it when men got on base. This year I see a calm young pitcher who pitches like a veteran, never losing focus, never unraveling. The month in AAA did wonders for this kid... wow.

Tim Kurkjian of ESPN has a piece HERE that references Nova’s great season and reports that the Yankees have chosen Ivan Nova to be the Yankees number 2 starter in the ALDS behind ace CC Sabathia. This is coming from a "source". Now, let’s be fair to your and my intelligence. This isn’t anything that anyone couldn’t figure out. I have stated more than once on Bleeding Yankee Blue that Nova had to be the logical number 2 based on the breaking down of Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia as well as the inconsistent performances by AJ Burnett and Phil Hughes... My God. Look at that mess I just wrote. The Yankees rotation IS a mess. Anyway, the point is, this is the most logical 1, 2 punch right now, not ideal, but with a hot offense and tough bullpen, it almost seems as though this was always Cashman’s plan, doesn't it?

Ivan Nova has proven he’s capable and reliable and if he can stay the course like he’s been able to do since he’s come back up, there should be no issue. Until of course, we need to come up with a third starter. Who would you choose if you had to choose this moment?

Bartolo Colon: He helped get us to first place, but he hasn’t been affective as of late. Colon is a broken down pitcher at this point that could be helpful out of the pen, but why disrupt an already dominant pen. I say don’t even stir up the pot, let those guys in the pen feed off each other and don’t add in other energy.

Freddy Garcia: I haven’t given up on “The Chief”, but it’s getting tough. Garcia as of late is good then bad, then bad then good. If he can get us 5 innings, we can win a ballgame, but God Dammit, starters need to go 7 + innings. These 5 innings outings every night can wipe out a bullpen fast.

AJ Burnett: I said it 3 times and I’ll say it again, Burnett pitched himself out of the Yankees rotation. I believe that we will not see AJ Burnett in the post season. I don’t think it makes sense and hurts the club at this point. I will bet you AJ Burnett’s confidence is so low right now he’d tell you that. That’s just the way it is.

Phil Hughes: The kid is slowly on his way back, but September is a bad place to finally be ready to pitch. Yes, Hughes is good, but he needs to be great to be our number 3. Truth be told, right now I’d have to go with Freddy Garcia based on veteran experience and his ability to grind it out and reinvent himself if needed.

But one thing's very important in this post that I need to reveal to you all. It’s September 20^th. We are not in the playoffs yet. We can put the cart before the horse but if there’s no horse, we’re just going through the motions. We need to clinch first, that’s the priority right now. So, before I get ahead of myself, let’s go 1 game at the time. Yes, we can get there and yes, we could win the whole damn thing, but it ain’t gonna be easy. One game at a time, as Jeet says… One game at the time.

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