Ivan Nova was diagnosed with a strained ligament in his right ring finger and could require a stint on the disabled list, Clint Hurdle told reporters Saturday afternoon.
Although Nova is listed as the Pirates' probable starter for Tuesday night's game against the Cubs, he was unable to throw his scheduled bullpen Saturday and a contingency plan is in place. Nick Kingham was removed from his start with Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday after only one inning, and Hurdle confirmed the plan is for Kingham to start Tuesday if Nova does land on the disabled list.
Nova said he suffered the injury while fielding a ground ball against the Tigers on April 26 at PNC Park; however, the pain did not become an issue until after his start against the Reds in Cincinnati on Thursday.
“I’m the type of guy that I like to take the ball every five days," Nova said. "It’s got to be something real, real, real major that I say, OK. They know that I’m a competitor. I want to be out there. Of course, there’s times that you cannot do it. I feel like after that start, after the game, I felt it a little bit. We’re not sure what’s going to happen in the next couple days. Hopefully I feel better.”
Nova allowed four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings and now has a 7.61 ERA over his last five starts. Opponents are batting .355 with an .988 OPS against him during that span. He's also allowed 10.7 hits per nine innings — his worst mark since 2014 — and 10 home runs in 11 starts.
Kingham, meanwhile, has a 0.76 WHIP in three starts for the Pirates, retiring the first 20 batters he faced in his major league debut against the Cardinals on April 29. He then gave up four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Brewers before being sent back to Triple-A because the Pirates opted to utilize a four-man rotation until Joe Musgrove returned from the disabled list.
Musgrove, acquired from the Astros in the Gerrit Cole trade, pitched seven scoreless innings in his first regular-season start for the Pirates on Friday night. Nova, signed through next season at a $9.167 million annual salary, has struggled with consistency since the start of last season.
He blamed a lingering knee injury for his struggles in the second half last season – including a 1.63 WHIP and 5.83 ERA in 13 starts — and lost 10 pounds in the offseason to better prepare himself to contribute from front to finish for the Pirates in 2018. However, he's struggled in May for a second consecutive season, failing to pitch through the sixth inning in four of five starts.
Trainers have wrapped his ring finger and it prevented him from taking part in his usual workouts, yet Nova didn't want to blame the finger injuries for his struggles. Although he said it's impacted his curveball — opponents are still batting only .160 against the pitch and its spin rate has only dropped slightly from last season — he doesn't think the finger has prevented him from executing pitches.
“No, I don’t think so," Nova said. "The results, they don’t matter. It’s not an excuse. It’s got nothing to do with my finger. Like I said the other day, if you look at my starts, it’s just one pitch almost all the time. If you’re going to put the finger as an excuse, it's going to be something wrong every inning. It’s just one pitch. Last time it happened in the fifth, fourth inning. Other than that, you’re not doing your job out there – it’s not an excuse. It’s not about the finger. It’s just don’t make the pitch at the right time.”
Since Kingham was optioned to Triple-A last Sunday, the Pirates must place Nova on the disabled list in order to recall Kingham in time to start Tuesday. They have other plans in place, though. Hurdle said Steven Brault could be an option to start, although he hinted the team would prefer to avoid losing Brault from the bullpen for six days.
