Ivan Nova isn't going anywhere, but on the field, the White Sox aren't getting what they expected out of the veteran so far

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Ivan Nova struggling is different than some of the other White Sox pitchers struggling.

It seems pretty obvious that Nova, who the White Sox traded for over the offseason to be this year’s version of James Shields, isn’t in any danger of getting jettisoned from the starting rotation, like Ervin Santana was earlier this season. With the starting staff in the fragile state it’s in — perhaps turning to Ross Detwiler if necessary Monday night in Houston — the White Sox might even be rethinking that decision to move on from the Ervin Santana Experiment after just three starts.

Nova has certainly had his good moments, and he doesn’t deserve to have people marching toward him with torches and pitchforks any more than any other White Sox starter. Four of his nine starts this year have been quality starts, including the two prior to Friday’s. And just because some of the other results haven't been pretty, it doesn't mean he isn't having the desired effect inside the White Sox clubhouse as a positive influence on young pitchers.

But on the field, Friday was one of the bad ones. Nova gave up nine runs, eight of them earned, and lasted just three innings. Three of the eight hits he gave up to the Toronto Blue Jays, who entered with the worst offense in the American League, left the ballpark. Nova’s given up 10 home runs in his last five starts, which is obviously not good. To be fair, though, Shields gave up 34 homers last season and still got showered with praise for being an innings-eater and a mentor to the team’s young pitchers. That likely won't come as much comfort to White Sox fans.

“I didn't have command of my pitches,” Nova said after Friday's game. “Didn't throw my curveball for a strike. Threw a slider that didn't do nothing. Didn't command the changeup. I missed my command today. I was walking people, falling behind guys and paid the price.

"You never want to give up a lot of homers, obviously, that's how they do a lot of damage. You want to keep the ball in the park. It's off so far, but we continue to work on it."

Nova is earning much of the same ire being directed at every struggling White Sox starter by fans who see Dylan Cease putting up one quality start after another at Triple-A Charlotte and wonder why he can’t come to the South Side and take the place of guys who just aren’t performing.

Of course, as general manager Rick Hahn has said, a need for starting pitching at the big league level won’t have anything to do with when Cease makes his eventual major league debut later this season. But the frustration is understandable from this standpoint: Some of these starting pitchers have to get some outs.

Things have stabilized a bit lately, and a staff that had just one seven-inning effort for much of the season has gotten a few of them in recent weeks. Lucas Giolito is the team’s most reliable starting pitching at the moment, chasing away the demons of 2018, when he had the highest ERA in baseball. Reynaldo Lopez had an ERA north of 12.00 after his first three starts of the campaign but has chopped that in half since. Manny Banuelos went on the injured list Friday, a move plenty of fans on Twitter greeted with sarcasm that Banuelos — who has a 9.15 ERA as a starter this season — was no great loss for the rotation. With the organization’s starting-pitching depth what it is, that’s clearly not the case.

But Nova is different. He carried with him some expectations of the kind of performance the White Sox could expect coming into the 2019 season. In the three seasons prior to this one, Nova had a combined 4.16 ERA and averaged 170 innings a year. At the moment, Nova owns a 7.42 ERA and has averaged a little more than five innings an outing.

Shields didn’t always mow down opposing lineups, but the consistency of what he did deliver was invaluable in 2018. Nova was supposed to do more of the same. He hasn’t so far in 2019. If Nova can’t deliver on being an innings-eater, that’s troublesome for a pitching staff that’s been plagued in the season’s first month and a half by brief outings that have led to a taxed bullpen.

Given Nova’s veteran status, there’s more confidence, perhaps, that he can figure things out, that performances like Friday’s won’t be the norm for long. But so far, Nova’s been Jekyll and Hyde: really good when he’s on (a 1.38 ERA in his four good starts) and really not good when he isn’t (a 14.77 ERA in five tough starts).

"You would hope that they're capable of doing it quickly,” manager Rick Renteria said when asked how fast Nova might be able to right the ship. “But if a guy doesn't have it and you're trying to get him through working as deep as he can, even though his pitch count got up there. Obviously we've had a mixed bag, and today just wasn't one of his better days."

Those better days are going to have to start coming if the White Sox are going to get what they expected out of Nova. There’s no “growing pains” or “continued development” excuses for the veteran.

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