Nova loses despite career-high 12 Ks: Yankees starter Ivan Nova had an interesting performance on the mound on Saturday against the Reds. Nova had ridiculous life on his pitches in striking out a career-high 12 batters over just six innings. Nova, who had eight Ks over three frames, also unfortunately allowed too many hits and runs when he wasn't mowing batters down. Nova took the loss to fall to 4-2 on the season as he allowed five earned runs on seven hits and two walks over six innings. He threw 103 pitches and his biggest mistake was allowing a three-run homer to Joey Votto in the fifth inning. (Updated 05/19/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 5/24/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Nova, who showed no signs of being bothered by the ankle injury he suffered in his previous outing, may have a 4-2 record, but his 5.69 ERA and 1.65 WHIP are telling. Nova has now lost two of his last three decisions and has allowed 23 runs over his last 30 innings. Nova's strikeouts on Saturday give him more than one per inning this season, which is impressive. Nova has great stuff and he pitches for a great offensive club. That keeps him viable for starts in deeper mixed Fantasy leagues, even when he's pitching poorly as he has been lately. His next scheduled start comes on Friday at Oakland. (Updated 05/19/2012).
05/22/2012 15:41 MLB: Early season underachievers
There are plenty of expectations for younger guys like Matt Moore and Gordon Beckham, but what about veterans like Adam Wainwright and Tim Lincecum? CBSSports.com Eye on Baseball blogger Dayn Perry joins Adam Aizer to talk about underachievers.
05/20/2012 02:30 The Lineup: Pair of Red Sox combine for 26 letters, 2 HRs
The Red Sox set an odd record on Saturday, as Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Will Middlebrooks both homered to set a new record for most total number of letters by teammates to homer in the same game. Meanwhile, Nationals pitcher Ross Detwiler may be looking over his shoulder in D.C.
05/17/2012 22:02 Bautista homers again; Blue Jays deal faltering Yankees third loss in row
Jose Bautista and J.P. Arencibia each hit two-run home runs, Drew Hutchison won back-to-back starts for the first time and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the New York Yankees 4-1 on Thursday night, sweeping their two-game series.
05/14/2012 23:19 Teixeira's two-run HR lifts Yankees
Mark Teixeira hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning, Curtis Granderson also connected, and the New York Yankees got three hits from Alex Rodriguez in an 8-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night.
Ivan Nova is the latest in a long line of unheralded Fantasy hurlers to benefit from the Yankees' stellar supporting cast, piling up 16 victories to finish fourth in Rookie of the Year voting last season. It was a performance good enough to rank him 54th among Head-to-Head starting pitchers even though he pitched only 165 1/3 innings, but was it a sustainable one? It's not like Nova was a big-name prospect coming up through the minors. He has below-average strikeout potential and no better than average control. The law of averages suggests his 16-4 record has to come closer to .500 in 2012, and his marginal stuff suggests he doesn't have much room to improve in other areas. But for what he lacks in upside, Nova has at least demonstrated a knack for making the most of what he has. After a stint in the minors last July, he returned to pitch his best baseball yet, going 8-0 with a 3.18 ERA and 1.15 WHIP over his final 11 starts. Clearly, Nova is worth drafting in mixed leagues. His supporting cast along with the expected increase in innings will no doubt make him a viable option. Just don't make the mistake of overestimating the 25-year-old's upside. (Updated 2/1/12)
Actual 
AccuScore Projections) Note: Points are rounded down.
= probable start