Rothschild high on Nova

TAMPA, Fla. -- The order of the Yankees' rotation beyond CC Sabathia is not set, but with spring training about to begin, Larry Rothschild might have provided a hint regarding the early favorite to be next in line behind the ace lefthander.

"I've seen him throw five sides and his delivery's really good," the pitching coach said of Ivan Nova Thursday morning at the team's minor- league complex. "He's in really good shape and he's really ahead of schedule."

Nova left Game 5 of the ALDS after two innings with a Grade 1 flexor strain in his right forearm, an injury that healed before Jan. 1. Nova, 25, has been a regular at the complex for a couple of weeks, and Rothschild said the righthander seems poised to repeat or surpass his impressive 2011 season, when he went 16-4 with a 3.70 ERA.

"I thought last year early we scored some runs which helped get him some wins, and then he got some confidence from that and then you saw him pitch the way that he's capable of," Rothschild said. "There's a quiet confidence to him. It's good to see. He's worked. The first side I saw here, you could see that where he left off last year, he picked up and went ahead with some stuff. He's been good."

Rothschild also has been encouraged by what he's seen from Phil Hughes, another pitcher who reported early. A noticeably slimmed-down Hughes -- word is he dropped close to 20 pounds in the offseason -- spoke to reporters here Monday and talked about how his motivation is to prove that his disappointing 2011 season was an aberration.

"He's been here a couple of weeks and you can see he looks great," Rothschild said. "The ball's coming out of his hand well, the arm speed is better than it was at this point last year. It's all positives right now, and he's coming into camp with the intent of purpose . . . I think he feels that way [something to prove]. He's coming off a year where he battled some injuries and everything and the year before he had a real nice year, especially the first half, so I think he wants to get back to that."

Because the Yankees included Jesus Montero in the deal with the Mariners that brought them Michael Pineda, the phrase "pitching surplus" has gotten a workout when describing the rotation. As of Thursday, A.J. Burnett had not been traded, leaving the Yankees with seven starters -- Sabathia, Nova, Burnett, Pineda, Hughes, Hiroki Kuroda and Freddy Garcia -- for five spots. That is fine with Rothschild.

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"The more the merrier," he said, smiling. "I like to get all the pitching I can. I'm not too shy about that. You understand when you don't because the organization has to make decisions, and Montero I'm sure wasn't that easy to pull the trigger on. But it's hard to find good quality starting pitching, and I think when you get a chance [to get it], you have to take that opportunity. But from my point of view as a pitching coach, obviously, I like all the arms we can get."