WHY YOU CAN'T GIVE UP ON NOVA AND HUGHES

Over the past week, New York Yankees fans have witnessed some serious carnage levied upon our promising young starters Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes.  Since July 31^st the two are a combined 2 – 3 with a 7.39 ERA and nearly a 1.68 WHIP. 

In back-to-back starts against the Tigers this week, neither of them could make it out of the sixth inning (with Hughes only going 4 1/3 innings and Nova doing him just one inning better).
 

With a lead that once was double-digits now whittled to just 5 ½ games, fans of the Bombers are getting nervous and starting to question whether Hughes or Nova should continue in starting roles.  Social media sites have lit up with suggestions as to how one or the other can be replaced. 

As a lifelong Yankee fan, as well as an avid baseball fan, my solution is simple: patience.

I know how frustrating it is to see our offense constantly jump out to early leads only to see them erased in a heartbeat the very next half inning.  Believe me, I live and die with every pitch, and like you, have experienced the sick feeling of watching Ivan Nova handed a five run lead in the first inning then surrender that lead in the top of the second.  I also struggle with the souvenir balls Phil Hughes dishes out on a start-by-start basis (he currently leads the league in HRs allowed).

But, before you grab the pitchforks and light the torches, let me throw these things at you:

• At the age of 25, Bob Gibson led all of baseball in walks issued with 119.
• At age 26, Mel Stottlemyre yielded a league leading 243 hits and 21 HRs.
• At age 25, Ron Guidry had a 5.63 ERA and gave up 20 hits in 16 innings pitched.

More recent stars have also experienced rough times early in their careers:

• Justin Verlander was 11 – 17 with a 4.84 ERA at the age of 25.
• Cole Hamels  was 10 – 11 with a 4.32 ERA as a 25 year-old.
• Finally, our own beloved Andy Pettitte at 26 years old held a 4.24 ERA and gave up 9.4 hits per nine innings.  He followed that season with a 4.70 ERA and 10.1 hits per nine innings as a 27 year-old.

Ivan Nova is 25 years old.  Phil Hughes is 26 years old.  Let’s give them a chance.

I’m not saying that either one will ever be a Bob Gibson or Ron Guidry or even a Justin Verlander , but my point is that none of those aforementioned stars were quit on by their teams.   There is a reason that Nova and Hughes are in our rotation, and that is because the baseball experts we have believe in them and know what they are capable of.  We need to believe in our baseball experts.

Before his most recent start, Phil Hughes was becoming a model of consistency for the team.  He had gone seven consecutive outings giving up three earned runs or less.  His ERA had gone from 4.94 on June 20^th to 3.96 on August 1^st.  This season he has shown the fastball that seemed lost in 2011, and never appears to let adversity rattle him.

Admittedly, Ivan Nova has struggled this year after going 16 – 4 last season.  However, he gave us a glimpse of just how good he can be in June when he was 3 – 0 with a 1.26 ERA. Saturday the “Super Nova” made an appearance, going 7 1/3 innings, giving up 2 earned runs and striking out 10 against a weakened Toronto lineup. Clearly, it’s there and just needs some tweaking.

It’s too early to panic fellow Yankee fans.  In spite of our team’s recent struggles, our offense is hitting .278 since the All-Star break, and that includes .314 with runners in scoring position.  We also have Hiroki Kuroda having some of the best starts of his career, Freddy Garcia keeping us in games when he is on the mound, and Andy Pettitte within a month of returning.  With the rest of the AL East beating each other up, and with that 5 ½ game lead still intact, we can afford to try to “weather the storm” of our still-young hurlers.  In the end, it will all pay off.

  


--Steve Skinner, BYB Guest Writer
Twitter: @oswegos1

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