White Sox veteran starting pitcher has been largely inconsistent on the mound this season but was stellar in his most recent outing for the team.
Chicago White Sox veteran starting pitcher Ivan Nova has been one of the more inconsistent pitchers on this team in 2019. There are times where he has a good outing on the mound and there are other times where he is downright awful.
On Wednesday night against the Houston Astros, Nova had one of his better starts of the season. He was helped out immensely by the White Sox defense as they turned multiple double plays and also turned a triple play to help out Nova.
In his outing against the Astros, Nova pitched seven innings while allowing just three earned runs. There are starts as the one Nova had on Wednesday that gives Sox fans hope for a solid 2019 season. But then there are other outings by Nova where Sox fans wonder why the franchise even traded for him this past offseason.
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So far, Nova has a 3-4 record on the season with a 6.96 ERA for the Sox. He’s had five quality starts for the Sox but has also had five outings where he allowed five or more earned runs. Clearly, Nova is struggling with inconsistency this year. Sadly, it has come at the expense of a depleted Sox starting rotation that is missing two pitchers in Carlos Rodon and Manny Banuelos.
The Sox need a consistent Nova to get the team through this season. Dylan Cease won’t be promoted until he’s ready and Sox fans should probably forget about the front office even coming close to signing Dallas Keuchel. Nova doesn’t need to be an ace for the Sox this season, but he must maintain some form of consistency.
Without a consistent Nova, the Sox starting rotation will suffer even more than it already has with recent injuries. An inconsistent Nova will also put more strain on the bullpen to pitch more innings.
Hopefully, for Nova and Sox fans, he can start to maintain some consistency over his next few outings. The Sox badly need some more quality starts out of Nova to keep the bullpen from being overused early in the season and to keep the team from drifting further away from a .500 record.