Yankees win, but Karma bites them for babying Ivan Nova

Ivan Nova was tremendous through eight innings. Joe Girardi didn't give him a chance to go nine. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

The New York Yankees defeated the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night, but they needed to call upon three relief pitchers in the ninth inning to seal the victory. They shouldn’t have needed any. Ivan Nova, their impressive 24-year-old rookie righthander, deserved to finish what he started.

Nova confused the offensively skilled Reds, shutting them down over eight tremendous innings. He watched his similarly intimidating offense tee off on emergency-starter Travis Wood in the first inning, and a four-run lead was his to work with.

He gave one back in the bottom of the inning, but that was it. Over the next seven, the best offensive team in the National League had only two baserunners.

The Yankees were up 5-1, needing three outs to take the series opener. Manager Joe Girardi had a conference near the dugout steps after the bottom of the eighth with pitching coach Larry Rothschild and bench coach Tony Peña. They were discussing whether to send Nova back out there. The meeting was short. The trio had decided against it.

Nova, at 105 pitches, was congratulated for his efforts. He put on his Yankees jacket and took a seat on the bench. As Karma is defined, he proceeded to watch something he certainly wouldn’t have let happen. The relief core did its best to let the Reds back in.

First it was Luis Ayala, who allowed a single to Brandon Phillips, the only batter he would face. Then it was Boone Logan’s turn to struggle, hitting Joey Votto, the only batter he would face. Cincinnati had life, which forced Mariano Rivera into the game.

This was a laughable situation. Girardi screwed up. He followed his much-publicized binder full of advice to the letter. I’m sure it says, ‘don’t let pitchers complete games unless there is the possibility for a no-hitter or perfect game.’ And, given the babying in this era, I bet it also says, ‘and when it’s a highly-touted pitcher under the age of 25, sticking with them in those situations isn’t a given.’ Sarcastic is heaping within this, but I can’t be too far off.

What’s the harm in letting a young pitcher try to get three more outs? It’s not like his arm is going to fall off. The chances of him tearing a ligament is no different in the ninth than it is in the first. And pitchers have not changed since the early 1920s. People will refute this, but they are wrong. The mentality has changed, nothing else. And that’s just wrong.

Back to the game. Rivera, the greatest closer of all-time, enters and can’t clean up the mess of Ayala and Logan, allowing two runs to score on a groundout and a single. The Reds are suddenly within two, with the potentially tying run at the plate in Edgar Renteria. The veteran struck out, ending the contest and giving New York the victory, but that’s beside the point.

Nova was baffling. His catcher, Russell Martin, had nothing but good things to say about his performance after the game; applauding his repertoire, how he used different pitches in different situations, and his demeanor. Yet, Martin wasn’t in that conversation with the coaches after the eighth inning. Now, why is that? There is no use in consulting Nova, because he would definitely want to stay in, but there is definite logic in consulting the catcher, who undoubtedly knew if the rookie had enough left to complete the game.

The Yankees shared high fives and handshakes after Rivera collected the save. Notably, Girardi and his coaches congratulated each other. Of course this would take place; it does after every victory. But this time they clearly didn’t deserve the pats on the back.

I am only 21. How can I be so vehemently against what Girardi did, then? After all, the prime of my childhood was the beginning of the pitch count era. But I am old-school. I have read enough books and watched enough film about the good ol’ days to long for the past, when beer and hot dogs were the performance-enhancers and complete games were a daily occurrence. When baseball was just a game.

I hate the way baseball has transformed in this respect. Having no DH in the National League irks me, but not as much as limiting pitchers. A starting pitcher’s job should be to go all nine innings. Every single one should seek to accomplish this every time they take the mound, but they have essentially been taught not to. After all, five completed innings means a pitcher is in line for the win. And, as an added bonus, going six innings and allowing three runs or less is considered a quality start. Within rewarding pitchers for underwhelming work, they sadly told that’s good enough. I mean, New York has seven relievers, and set-up men for set-up men.

They used three of those seven, and in doing so, they were just the latest to limit a promising pitcher–to keep Ivan Nova from going all nine, something every pitcher, deep down, dreams of. What a shame.