BRADENTON, Fla. — Going into last season, the scouting reports on Ivan Nova didn’t talk much about his changeup.
Nova’s always had the pitch in his arsenal — he went to it often as a rookie in 2010 with the New York Yankees — but he rarely used it over the past seven seasons.
“When he started his career, his changeup was an amazing pitch,” said Francisco Cervelli, who caught Nova for four years with the Yankees. “Then he started having success with his two-seamer and his curveball.”
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Nova turned 30 before last season and figured it was time to mix up his approach.
“When you establish yourself in the big leagues, hitters know what you’re going to do,” Nova said. “Let’s say they know I don’t throw that changeup a lot. And I know that they know it. So, I start to think, ‘Maybe if I start to throw (the changeup) more I can be more successful.’
Nova put that plan into action during 2017 spring training. During the season, his usage of the changeup shot up from 4 percent in 2016 to 10 percent last year.
“Because he has such good command with his fastball — when he’s on, he can hit the four quadrants — the changeup only enhances that,” pitching coach Ray Searage said. “It’s a real good one. It’s got good sink; it looks like it’s a two-seamer. It comes in at a different velo, but it has the same action on it.”
Nova’s changeup averages 87 mph, about 7 mph slower than his fastball. He throws it with a sort of circle grip, similar to his two-seamer grip.
The changeup caught some batters off guard last year, and was a better setup pitch than an out pitch.
According to FanGraphs, Nova threw 252 changeups and generated 45 swing and misses. Compare that to 57 whiffs with his 1,103 two-seamers and 31 whiffs with 650 four-seam fastballs.
“I’m not a big strikeout pitcher,” Nova said. “I want to get ground balls. I want to get quick outs. As long as it’s down in the zone and you let the hitter know, hey, I’ve got a changeup, it works.”
Searage noted another benefit of the changeup: “He went deeper into games because of that pitch.” Nova worked a career-high 187 innings last season.
Nova might have been able to eclipse the 200-inning mark, if not for a gimpy left knee that forced him to skip two starts in the second half of last season. Hoping to avoid that this year, he lost 10 pounds over the winter.
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“After I hurt my knee last year, I spent a little bit of time during the season without running,” Nova said. “I wasn’t able to work out for a couple of days. The last thing you want is to suffer from that. I decided to go down with my weight, and all that can do is help you out.”
Nova plans to use the changeup a lot again this year. He has enough confidence in it that the change might pop up in some unexpected counts.
“I want to be able to use any of my pitches in any count, anytime,” Nova said. “It will be the same thing this year; I’m going to throw everything I’ve got.”
Everything? Perhaps even … a slider?
Yankees pitcher coach Larry Rothschild first introduced the slider to Nova, and it accounted for about 13 percent of his pitches over the 2011-12 seasons.
“It was good at times,” Nova said. “Sometimes, it was more of a cutter. I had a back-and-forth thing going: it’s a slider, it’s a cutter, it’s a slider, it’s a cutter.”
Nova hasn’t thrown a slider in any game over the past five seasons. He didn’t look comfortable throwing the it after having Tommy John surgery in April 2014. He also noticed the slider caused him to lose the feel for his curveball, which got flat and became as effective as a batting practice pitch.
“It was bad. Terrible,” Cervelli said. “That slider-cutter, no good. He knows I didn’t like it. The pitching coach (Rothschild) liked it.”
When he’s playing catch on the side or working in the offseason, Nova sometimes tinkers with the slider. He admitted he might ask Searage to let him put the pitch back in his arsenal this year.
“I’m open to it,” Searage said. “We’ll see how the feel is and what kind of break it has, the rotation and how he feels. It might be a pitch that he uses when he’s behind in the count. If he can command it, that’s good. But it starts to mess up that curveball, it’s out.”
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Cervelli, however, insisted on having the final word: “Tell him I say no. Maybe now it will be better, but back then, no.”
Around the horn:
Planet of the aches: Right-hander Joe Musgrove shut down his pitching session early on Sunday when he felt some discomfort in his shoulder. “I probably could have gutted through it, but it was Feb. 19, so what’s the point?” Musgrove said. “No need to push it. I still have all my mobility and range of motion. There’s no serious damage.” … Right-hander Nick Burdi, who was acquired in the Rule 5 draft, continues to rehab about nine months out from having Tommy John surgery. He’s in a throwing program, but won’t be cleared to throw off a mound until after spring training.
On the fields: The first full-squad workout was on Monday. There was the usual mix of drills for bunts, pop-ups and baserunning, plus two sets of live batting practice. Daniel Nava did some work at first base (he’s made 24 starts there in the majors) and Austin Meadows was stationed in left field (which is where he’ll play when he’s initially called up at some point later this year).
Nutting speaks: Chairman Bob Nutting met with the team for about an hour before the start of Monday’s workouts. “Bob’s message was, in my hearing, similar to the message he’s had in the past,” general manager Neal Huntington said. “We’re here to win. We’re here to bring World Series championship No. 6 back to Pittsburgh. We’re here to help these guys be great. And we’re all in this thing together with one vision, one goal.” Nutting will be in town until Sunday.
The old college try: The Pitt baseball team was in Kissimmee, Fla., last weekend to play four games in the Sunshine State Classic. That got me to thinking — why don’t the Pirates schedule a scrimmage against Pitt (or another local school such as St. Vincent, Penn State or West Virginia) when it’s in Florida? A Pirates spokesman told me the club would consider such a game if it’s approached by a school.
Five MLB clubs will play exhibitions against colleges this spring. Four of those games have local ties: the Twins vs. Minnesota. the Red Sox vs. Boston College, the Diamondbacks vs. Arizona State and the Red Sox vs. Northeastern. The exception is the Phillies, who will play the University of Tampa.
The Pirates haven’t scrimmaged against a college team since 2011, when they beat State College of Florida, 21-1. In 2009, Manatee Community College beat the Pirates, 6-4.
(Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)