Ivan Nova Proclaims Himself “Best Pitcher in the World.”
NY Daily News-Here’s what a young pitcher sounds like after winning his 15th consecutive decision: “If you ask me, ‘Who’s the best pitcher in the world?’” Ivan Nova said, “I say, ‘Me.’ You know, you have to believe it. That’s why you win so many games.” Who could blame Nova for feeling so confident? He pitched six strong innings against the Red Sox Friday, pushing past all the pomp and circumstance of the 100th anniversary of Fenway to add to his own blossoming resume.
And you wanna know what? I dig it. Someone call Hunter S. Thompson because between the backpage of today’s paper and Ivan Nova’s comments, everything being thought in New York is getting printed. It’s this sort of confidence that allowed Nova to throw at Bautista’s face in his first ever start. It’s this sort of confidence that has him winning 15 straight decisions. And it’s this sort of confidence that could make him a front-end guy one day very soon. He obviously isn’t the best in the world because Roy Halladay lives in this world. Gun to my head, I’m taking Doc in a game 7 over anybody in baseball. But you can’t knock Nova’s positive thinking and who knows how far off this statement actually is. No ceilings for Nova in my opinion.
You guys should try employing people who actually understand baseball. Pitching wins are an irrelevant statistic in evaluating performance.
Nova strikes out nobody, and doesn’t have great control,. His numbers are entirely dependent on BABIP, which is mostly driven by luck and defense. The Yankees have shitty defense, therefore, he’ll never be an elite pitcher.
^besides Eduardo Nunez, please explain how the Yankee defense is shitty??
According to Sabremetrics a 5th grade short stop is a better defensive short stop then Jeter I dont buy it.
A 5th grader has more range than Jeter.
Realistic Sox fan here. First off, Nova is still young, and wins are typically a shitty way to measure pitchers but he could be good. But if you don’t buy Fangraphs/sabremetrics stats I don’t get you. If you roll 5 ground balls directly at me, I’ll probably field it too. I have a fielding percentage of 1.000. I’m awesome. Measuring the balls you don’t get to is important in valuing your defense. Plain and simple.
jeters range, russell martin hit-first catcher, 36 yr old 3rd baseman…….and Nick Swisher.
how the hell can you say that BABIP based mostly on luck and defense? If you are a shitty pitcher, more balls put in play against you will be line drives or deep fly balls. If you are a good pitcher, you will throw more ground balls and popups. Your ignorance is astounding. Oh wait, your username is bosox24. nevermind.
In his defense it was 4/20 when these comments were made.
Doesn’t matter what sport it is, if you don’t go out there thinking you’re the greatest player of all time, you have the wrong attitude. Fuck it, Nova is a right handed Sandy Koufax.
By the way BWRF according to sabermetrics, Jeter’s range last year was top 5 among AL SS. He made the fewest errors and had the highest fielding percentage.
better question… WHY THE FUCK IS ACEVES STILL IN THE MAJORS AND WHY R THE SOX STUPID ENOUGH TO TRUST HIM!?!?! if i recall correctly he was aweful for the yankees. almost a guaranteed blown game if he ever made it out to the mound. fuck that guy~!
Jeter’s UZR/150 was actually second to last in baseball last year. Good news though in overall UZR he was only fourth to last. Keep using fielding percentage and errors though.
After today’s performance no red sox fan should ever make any comment pertaining to the yankees. Go bury your fat pompous heads in the ground you fucking hammerheads!
hahahahahahaha “it’s this sort of confidence that could make him a front-end guy one day very soon.”
Bucholz is awesome.
Yourpal, aceves was actually quite good for the yanks. Look at the numbers
Its a long year talk to you yanks cunts at the end youll be crying over some bullshit
I gotta say I can’t knock Nova for this. Is this not exactly like Eli calling hinself “elite” and all the haters laughed in his face? Nova for world series mvp