Iván Manuel Nova Guance (born January 12, 1987) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, and Detroit Tigers. He also played in the KBO League for the SSG Landers.
Nova grew up poor in the Dominican Republic, where he started playing baseball at a young age. An unheralded prospect, Nova signed as an international free agent with the Yankees in 2004. After pitching in minor league baseball through the 2008 season, the San Diego Padres selected Nova from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft. The Padres opted not to carry Nova on their 25-man roster, however, and returned him to the Yankees.
Nova enjoyed a breakout season in the minors for the Yankees in 2009. He made his MLB debut with the Yankees in 2010, and established himself as a key member of the Yankees' starting rotation during the 2011 season. After struggling in 2012, Nova reemerged in 2013, winning the American League Pitcher of the Month Award for August 2013. The Yankees traded Nova to the Pirates in 2016, and he won the National League Pitcher of the Month Award for April 2017. After the 2018 season, the Pirates traded Nova to the White Sox.
Nova was raised in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. His father, Manuel, managed a restaurant on the beach. To make ends meet, Nova and his four siblings slept in the same bed and often worked in their father's restaurant.
Nova rooted for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball and the Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Professional Baseball League as a child. He played baseball as a shortstop and outfielder, but was not highly regarded as a prospect. He went unnoticed by scouts until he experienced a growth spurt at the age of 15. Local scouts asked Nova to pitch in a game against older players, and he continued to train as a pitcher.
The Boston Red Sox invited Nova to their Dominican academy, where they attempted to sign him. Nova declined their contract offer, however, as the Red Sox are rivals of the Yankees. When he was 17 years old, a trainer recommended Nova to Victor Mata, a Yankees scout, who invited Nova to attend their Dominican academy.
After a two-week tryout, the Yankees signed Nova as an international free agent on July 15, 2004. Nova received an $80,000 signing bonus, about the average bonus given to a Dominican prospect. Though other teams would have offered Nova more money, he insisted on signing with the Yankees.
Nova made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast League Yankees in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2006, where he accumulated a 3–0 win–loss record with a 2.72 earned run average (ERA). After starting the 2007 season in extended spring training, the Yankees assigned him to the Charleston RiverDogs of the Single-A South Atlantic League.
In 2008, Nova pitched for the Tampa Yankees of the High-A Florida State League. Nova started the season with an 0–5 win–loss record and a 5.06 ERA, at which point he considered quitting baseball. But Nova persevered, and he rebounded to finish the season with an 8–13 win–loss record and a 4.36 ERA in 26 games, 24 of which he started. He recorded 109 strikeouts and 46 walks.
The Yankees opted not to add Nova to their 40-man roster after the 2008 season, exposing him to the Rule 5 draft that off-season. They calculated that Nova, if selected, would be returned to the organization by the end of spring training, as he was unlikely to last the entire season on a team's 25-man roster, as required by the Rule 5 process. In December 2008, the San Diego Padres selected Nova with the twentieth selection in the Rule 5 draft. Competing for a spot on the Padres' roster, Nova had an 8.31 ERA in spring training, allowing eight earned runs and 13 hits in 8+2⁄3 innings pitched, while walking four and striking out three. He was returned to the Yankees after clearing outright waivers at the end of spring training.
Nova began the 2009 season with the Trenton Thunder of the Double-A Eastern League. He started the season with a 2.36 ERA in 12 games started. His performance led the Yankees to promote him to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees of the Triple-A International League, where he made his first start on June 29, pitching 5+2⁄3 innings of no-hit baseball against the Rochester Red Wings. Combined, Nova finished with a 6–8 win–loss record and a 3.68 ERA during the regular season, and had a 1–0 record and a 1.93 ERA in two postseason starts with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Following the 2009 season, the Yankees added Nova to their 40-man roster, to ensure he was not selected in the Rule 5 draft again.
After recording a 2.43 ERA and 1.27 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) ratio over his first six starts for Scranton/Wilkes Barre, Nova was promoted to the major leagues on May 10, 2010, to serve as a long reliever in the Yankees' bullpen. He pitched three shutout innings in relief before he was optioned back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Nova was recalled to the majors on August 21, and he made his first career major league start on August 23. He impressed the Yankees in his first start, going 5+1⁄3 innings and allowing two runs on six hits against the Toronto Blue Jays. He was given his second start, replacing Javier Vázquez in the Yankees' starting rotation. Nova struck out seven Chicago White Sox in his first MLB victory on August 29.
At the time of his MLB debut, the league investigated Nova and fellow Yankees pitching prospect Wilkins de la Rosa for injecting each other with Vitamin B12. Overall, Nova made seven starts for the Yankees in 2010, pitching to a 1–2 record and a 4.50 ERA. Nova reached the sixth inning only once, however, as he allowed a higher opponents' batting average and ERA in the fifth inning than in the first four. The Yankees did not include Nova on their postseason roster.
Nova entered spring training in 2011 expected to secure a spot in the starting rotation. Nova was named to the Yankees' starting rotation. On June 20, Nova had the longest start in his career to that point, allowing one run in eight innings against the Cincinnati Reds, while striking out seven. Through June, Nova had an 8–4 win–loss record and 4.15 ERA, including a 4–1 record and 3.35 ERA in his six most recent starts.
Despite Nova's success, he was demoted to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre due to the return of Bartolo Colón and Phil Hughes from the disabled list, as Nova had minor league options remaining. Nova used the time with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to work on his slider.
Nova was called up to the majors due to a double-header against the Baltimore Orioles on July 30. Nova solidified himself in the Yankees rotation after a 7+2⁄3 inning, six hit, one run, ten strikeout, zero walk performance against the Chicago White Sox. He remained in the rotation when manager Joe Girardi decided to use six starters, instead of the usual five, in order to keep starting Nova. After his July 30 promotion, Nova had an 8–0 record with a 3.18 ERA. The Yankees selected Nova for their three-man postseason starting rotation at the end of the season. Girardi named Nova the starter in Game 2 of the 2011 American League Division Series (ALDS). When Game 1 was postponed by rain in the third inning, he pitched 6+2⁄3 innings of the resumed game, while allowing only two runs and earning the win. He pitched again for the Yankees in Game 5 but the team lost the series.
Nova compiled a 16–4 record in 2011, the most wins for a Yankees rookie since Stan Bahnsen won 17 games in 1968. He also had a 3.70 ERA. He was named to the Baseball America All-Rookie Team following the season. Nova finished fourth in balloting for the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year Award, finishing behind Jeremy Hellickson, Mark Trumbo, and Eric Hosmer.
Nova secured for a spot in the starting rotation for the 2012 season in spring training. He won 15 consecutive games from June 2011 through May 2012, one short of the franchise record set by Roger Clemens. He surpassed the Yankees' rookie record of twelve consecutive wins, set by Atley Donald in 1939, during the 2011 season.