David Phelps starting in place of Ivan Nova tomorrow

October 1, 2012 by Mike Axisa 56 Comments

This surprises me a bit, but Joe Girardi announced this afternoon that David Phelps will start in place of Ivan Nova tomorrow. It surprises me only because I thought they would wait to see if they needed to use Phelps in relief tonight before making the call. Either way, it’s probably the right move. Nova’s been terrible and these games are too important.

Eddard reboot v.1.0

Great move. Wonder if the move came from Cashman because it makes too much sense. Dave Phelps has proven that he can handle the pressure and the weakened Boston lineup. Nova has been the biggest disappointment this season and should be shut down for the rest of the year. Phelps shouldn’t be needed in relief with CC on the mound.
- Better off Eddard/Syrio Forel/Occasional Troll
  
  He has never pitched in playoff game and earlier this month he laid in egg to the team the yankees are currently fighting against. How could you possibly say he’s proven he can handle the pressure?
  - Eddard reboot v.1.0
    
    When the Yankees have needed big starts against Toronto and Boston, Phelps has delivered. He can shut down Boston minus Pedroia and Ellsbury. With Nova it’s a crapshoot. You might get the guy that shut down Tampa or you might get the guy that was given a 5 run lead in the 1st inning and then gave up 7 runs the next half inning. Phelps is the right move.
    - Slugger27
      
      When the Yankees have needed big starts against Toronto and Boston, Phelps has delivered.
      
      When the yankees needed a big start against Baltimore earlier this mornth, Phelps did not deliver.
      
      With Nova it’s a crapshoot. You might get the guy that shut down Tampa or you might get the guy that was given a 5 run lead in the 1st inning and then gave up 7 runs the next half inning
      
      With Phelps it’s a crapshoot. You might get the guy that shut down Toronto or you might get the guy who pitched poorly against the Orioles in back to back starts when we needed him most.
      
      Phelps is the right move.
      
      Maybe, but not based on anything you’ve said. And I’m still waiting on a good answer to the question “How has Phelps proven he can handle the pressure?”
      - JonS
        
        With Phelps it’s a crapshoot
        
        With Nova, it’s pretty much a guarantee that he will suck. I will take a crap shoot and run the risk of a bad game over the pretty much guarantee with the rare exception of a bad game.
        
        Slugger27
        
        The point is that Phelps has struggled in big games, in September, this season, against the team that the yanks are fighting against. Twice. I’m not saying he’s not the better choice over Nova, I’m saying he hasn’t proven he’s a big game pitcher, and that his perceived clutchness from Eddard has nothing to do with anything.
        
        Eddard reboot v.1.0
        
        He isn’t going to pitch vs the Os. He’s pitching against the Sox who he had recent success against. And Pedroia and Ellsbury aren’t even in the lineup. Phelps is the right move. Girardi finally gets away from his guys. Andruw and Nova are finished.
        
        Slugger27
        
        But how has he proven he’s clutch? In 2 september starts, he wasn’t clutch at all.
        
        Robinson Tilapia
        
        9/15 and 8/11 say its not a guarantee.
        
        http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/gamelog/_/id/30400/ivan-nova
        
        I’d go with Phelps too, but Nova’s not a lock to lay an egg every time he steps on a mound, no matter how poor he’s looked at times. Let’s quit that nonsense.
    - Slugger27
      
      Basically, youre just making stuff up.
      - Sweet Dick Willie
        
        Welcome to Eddard World.
  - Robinson Tilapia
    
    BECAUSE HE’S BIG GAME DAVE FUCKING PHELPS. EVERYONE CALLS HIM THAT, DONTCHA KNOW?!
    
    David Phelps is so BIG GAME that he legally changed his middle name to “Fucking.”
    
    Source: Eddard
    - Slugger27
      
      Meanwhile, Nova’s middle name was changed to “Abstinent”
      - Robinson Tilapia
        
        I don’t that’ll catch on in the Dominican.
kevin w.

Welp, biggest start of your life kid. None of us thought he’d be here on March 1st.
- King of Fruitless Hypotheticals
  
  That’s not true–I totally thought he’d be the long man languishing in the bullpen wasting away…
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  Not necessaily true. I think we all figured Phelps/Mitchell/Warren would get a hard look this year when an extra starter was needed and that, if one of them made a strong impression, they’d carve out a role for themselves. I think we also knew on March 1st that shit, always does, happen.
bleed_Yankee_blue

Giradi overmanaging again. When Nova is on he can be dominate. I would have gone with him. The sawx are a team the Yanks can rally against for sure so worst case they could have played come from behind a couple of runs with Nova on a short leash. On another note… what happened to genius of Rothschild? Is there not any accountability on him for Nova and Hughs inconsistency?
- Slugger27
  
  i dont normally berate other posts, but god this post sucked. i mean shitty all the way around. first off, i doubt this was a girardi move. second off, anytime any pitcher “is on”, they can dominate. third off, the 4th sentence doesnt make sense start to finish. novas a good choice because the yankees can score runs off boston if they fall behind? how’s that different from phelps? fourth off, i can only assume the irony of the last sentence is satire. you spend your post defending nova, and then label him inconsistent, suggesting rothschild should take blame.
  
  again, just a terrible post.
  - Robinson Tilapia
    
    Ignore. This person seems like they’d blame Girardi for the weather.
    - jjyank
      
      Raining again!!??? That genius Clueless Joe is asleep at the wheel AGAIN. Overmanaging piece of crap. WHY DIDN’T HE JUST LEAVE THE SUN IN??
      - Robinson Tilapia
        
        Fast forward to July…
        
        WHY IS THE SUN STILL IN THERE?! GET THE MOON AND CODY EPPLEY IN! MY GAWD, JOE!
  - bleed_Yankee_blue
    
    Slugger – who do you know in the front office that can specifically verify that it was not Girardi’s move?
    
    My point is Girardi tends to over manage – that’s all.
    
    Yes any time any pitcher is on they can dominate and my hunch is and was that Nova was due to dominate. My observation with baseball is you can’t always go with the stats. How did Ricky Romero dominate the yanks with his stats?
    
    My concern was that with Phelps starting – they would need to go to Freddie if Phelps falters tonight. You can’t give the ball to Nova after he was bypassed – not tonight anyway.. but maybe in the one game playoff which they may not be forced to do.
    
    If Nova did not have good stuff they could pull him right away – that is what short leash means.
    
    My point about Rothschild is the entire pitching staff has been inconsistent in the second half yet Rothschild – who was raved about the beginning of the year – has not been able to solve the issue.
    
    Go Yanks and go Phelps! Regardless of my shitty post – I bleed Yankee blue and we are gonna win!
    - Slugger27
      
      i know nobody in the front office, nor did i imply that i did. i expressed “doubt” that it came from girardi. i could be wrong. to be fair, that was the least shitty part of your shitty post.
      
      ya know, chris stewart is really due to stop sucking at the plate. you cannt always go with stats. i say DH him and bat him cleanup tonight.
      
      why cant they have a short leash with phelps?
      
      your entire point about rothschild WASNT that the whole staff was inconsistent. you mentioned 2 names.
      - bleed_Yankee_blue
        
        If you don’t know anyone from the front office then how can you say you doubt Giradi made the move? My point is – my guess that giradi made the move is as good as your guess that he didn’t.
        
        Shitty analogy you made: Chris Stewart has never hit. Russel Martin has – and that is why Girardi stuck with him and he started to hit.
        
        Why can’t they have a short leash on Phelps? They can, but I think that Nova’s confidence is blown because he was bypassed (yeah I called him) and he would be less likely to come in and do a good job after Phelps – and as I said I don’t even think he is an option now. And so as I said – the long man would be Garcia – because they used lowe yesterday – and Garcia has stunk worse than the shitty ass Nova who I defended.
        
        What are you Rothschilds brother in law? Geeze the boss would have canned him by now.
        
        This is all moot.. Phelps will keep the Yanks in the game that is the bottom line. Hey.. the guy asked the question – I answered it.
        
        Okay I will change my handle to shitty_bleed_yankee_blue for you! ;)
- Laz
  
  7.05 era after the a/s break. He hasn’t been on for 3 months now, aside from an occasional start. Phelps gives them the best chance at winning the game.
- Laz
  
  7.05 era after the a/s break. He hasn’t been on for 3 months now, aside from an occasional start. Phelps gives them the best chance at winning the game.
Kevin

*Like*
Laz

Just said 3 hours ago he should start over nova. Nova has a 7.05 era after the a/s break, and they need to win every game they possibly can.
- Laz
  
  Phelps hasn’t started in awhile now, but he should still be able to give them 5 solid innings, while keeping them in the game.
Zack

The NOva that can be lights out on given day hasn’t been there at all in the second half. Phelps isn’t perfect but he’s been far better then Nova.
LarryM., Fl.

Nova is inconsistent from game to game. He has not corrected high in the zone fastballs which have been pounded all season long. He has had enough starts to correct. It might be an emotional uplift for the team to not play behind him at this stage of the season.

Go with Phelps. Its just a good move.
Darren

This is like the game of Would You Rather?

Would you rather be buried up to your neck in maggots, or eat ten live slugs?

Would you rather make out with a girl with a moustache, or have crabs for 2 hours?

Would you rather start Nova, or Phelps?
- jjyank
  
  Maggots, moustache, Phelps.
  
  This game is fun.
  - Robinson Tilapia
    
    Seconded.
  - Slugger27
    
    slugs, moustache, and phelps for me. im a pussy when it comes to bugs and insects.
    - forensic
      
      As long as you have no open wounds, the maggots would be no problem at all.
      
      Bet that’s more than you wanted to know. :-)
      - Darren
        
        Gah! I’m going with slugs, crabs and Nova.
        
        at least with the slugs it’s relatively contained, I don’t want a kazillion maggots crawling all over me. it would be like sand in your underpants, but way worse.
        
        and crabs at least you can make em do stuff, like have agng war with your bedbugs. the ‘stache girl would be too creepy.
        
        Even though Phelps is clearly the “right” choice, I feel like it’s giving up on Nova forever and I’m not there yet….I mean, doesn’t this mean he’s done for the year, at least? Can’t imagine him making the playoff roster.
Darren

This is like the game of Would You Rather?

Would you rather be buried up to your neck in maggots, or eat ten live slugs?

Would you rather make out with a girl with a moustache, or have crabs for 2 hours?

Would you rather start Nova, or Phelps?
jb

Mike-

Like the move.

Off subject, Hughes was using changeup effectively with success. Recently, Five inning Phil is trying to blow hitters away with no success and a unmanageable fastball. Why doesnt Girardi or the catchers call for the change more regularly. Am so tired of reading about him getting more comfortable with it for THE LAST 4 YEARS!!!!
jjyank

I like the move. Phelps is certainly no lock either (unless you took a wrong turn into EddardWorld), but it’s clear that Nova just isn’t right. It’s a huge game, but it’s not as if we’re throwing him to the Rangers’ offense or something.
- Jose M. Vazquez
  
  I agree that Nova isn’t right. He should be shut down for the rest of the season and another MRI should be done on the shoulder. Just because he doesn’t complain does not mean that everything is well. Many posters here say that he is a head case. I say that maybe his problem is physical or mechanical. In either case, he can be fixed and special attention should be given to him in the Winter.
  - Bo Knows
    
    Anyone who says he’s a headcase is an f’n idiot (I not going to mince words on that because it’s true) It is a mechanical issue, and it might also be the reason behind the injury. I didn’t like the idea of Nova even being allowed to come off the DL because something is clearly not right and hasn’t been for some time.
http://twitter.com/#!/Clay_Bellinger Clay Bellinger

I dig it.
Adam

Wow…check out the Sawks’ lineup tonight. No Pedroia, no Ellsbury.
- forensic
  
  Wow, even though neither of them have great numbers against CC, it’s still a nice help.
  
  Sure would be a good time for CC to have arguably his first good start against Boston since 2010.
Robinson Tilapia

I’d go with Phelps. I believe in Nova making whatever corrections are needed, but this is not the time to be focusing on corrections. It’s time to win the final three games of the season and, right now, I feel Phelps gives you the better chance at a quality start than Nova does.
- Slugger27
  
  agreed on all points.
DERP

If tonight goes as planned, CC could probably start tomorrow as well.
forensic

Had to be done. Kind of odd that just an hour ago Girardi’s lineup card since listed nova as the starter and phelps in the pen though. Guess he wanted to be able to give the media the good news himself.
Chilango

Great. Now I can unclench my ass….a little.
- Slugger27
  
  mines still clenched
http://yanksgoyard.com/ Joe F

I asked you this on twitter Saturday or Sunday.
http://yanksgoyard.com/ Joe F

Not saying you knew, I just thought of this possibility. Glad it came to fruition.
Frank

Don’t like the move. It shows panic on the part of Girardi. Also, this can’t be good for Nova’s confidence moving forward. Finally, although I like Phelps a lot, the fact remains he hasn’t been exactly lights out. Botton line is Yanks will need to win with their bats tomorrow as the pitching match up favors the RS (whether it was Nova or Phelps). But let’s win today first.
- http://yanksgoyard.com/ Joe F
  
  Yea there’s panic. Ivan Nova has been complete garbage outside of June.