Joe Girardi On WFAN: Nova Going Through 'Learning Curve' As Reliever
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Ivan Nova is still getting used to life coming out of the bullpen, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
CC Sabathia beat out Nova for the fifth spot in the Yankees' rotation in spring training.
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Nova, predominantly a starter throughout his career, struggled mightily in his second outing of the season Wednesday, allowing four runs on five hits in the eighth inning of a 7-2 loss at Toronto.
"He just never seemed to get comfortable last night," Girardi told WFAN's Mike Francesa on Thursday. "You know, it's a learning thing for him. One of the things that I'm trying to do is I'm trying to keep him stretched out, but I don't want him going too many days without throwing. He hadn't thrown in a while.
"He came out and did a really good job last week (against Houston) where he gave us the four innings and didn't give up a run. So I felt like he's probably in a pretty good spot. But that was something that he's never done last night, that late in a ballgame. And now he, in a sense, he understands that he could be called upon any time. You tell them that, but they don't necessarily understand that, and hopefully it gets better from here on out."
Girardi also talked about Michael Pineda's performance against the Blue Jays, Alex Rodriguez's early-season struggles, rookie infielder Ronald Torreyes and more. To listen to the full interview, click on the audio player above.