He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, and Detroit Tigers.

Nova grew up poor in the Dominican Republic, where he started playing baseball at a young age.

After pitching in minor league baseball through the 2008 season, the San Diego Padres selected Nova from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft.

After struggling in 2012, Nova reemerged in 2013, winning the American League Pitcher of the Month Award for August 2013.

The Yankees traded Nova to the Pirates in 2016, and he won the National League Pitcher of the Month Award for April 2017.

[1] Local scouts asked Nova to pitch in a game against older players, and he continued to train as a pitcher.

[4] After starting the 2007 season in extended spring training, the Yankees assigned him to the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class A South Atlantic League.

They calculated that Nova, if selected, would be returned to the organization by the end of spring training, as he was unlikely to last the entire season on a team's 25-man roster, as required by the Rule 5 process.

[7] Competing for a spot on the Padres' roster, Nova had an 8.31 ERA in spring training, allowing eight earned runs and 13 hits in 8+2⁄3 innings pitched, while walking four and striking out three.

[12][13] After recording a 2.43 ERA and 1.27 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) ratio over his first six starts for Scranton/Wilkes Barre,[14] Nova was promoted to the major leagues on May 10, 2010, to serve as a long reliever in the Yankees' bullpen.

[20] At the time of his MLB debut, the league investigated Nova and fellow Yankees pitching prospect Wilkins de la Rosa for injecting each other with Vitamin B12.

[24] On June 20, Nova had the longest start in his career to that point, allowing one run in eight innings against the Cincinnati Reds, while striking out seven.

Nova solidified himself in the Yankees rotation after a 7+2⁄3 inning, six hit, one run, ten strikeout, zero walk performance against the Chicago White Sox.

He remained in the rotation when manager Joe Girardi decided to use six starters, instead of the usual five, in order to keep starting Nova.

[37] He surpassed the Yankees' rookie record of twelve consecutive wins, set by Atley Donald in 1939, during the 2011 season.

[39] During an interleague game against the Atlanta Braves on June 11, 2012, Nova got his first career base hit off of Randall Delgado in a 3–0 win.

Nova was not very effective after the All-Star break, pitching to a 2–5 record with a 6.40 ERA in 10 starts, and was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to rotator cuff inflammation.

[40] Due to his struggles late in the season, the Yankees decided to demote Nova to the bullpen for the postseason roster until the team lost in the 2012 ALCS to the Detroit Tigers.

From July 5 through August 31, Nova made seven consecutive starts in which he pitched at least seven innings and allowed three or fewer runs.

[49] He was removed from his April 19 start with an elbow injury, which was diagnosed as a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and required Tommy John surgery, ending Nova's season.

[51] Nova began a throwing program to rehabilitate his arm in September, and spent the winter at the Yankees' spring training facility in Tampa, Florida, rather than returning to the Dominican Republic.

[51] On April 11, 2015, the Yankees placed Nova on the 60-day disabled list to begin the season recovering from his Tommy John surgery.

[60] Nova split time between the bullpen and the rotation, posting an ERA of 4.90 in 21 games, 15 starts for the Yankees through the end of July.

He struggled in the second half of the season, including a three inning outing on August 30, which led the Pirates to skip Nova's next start.

[74][75] On December 11, 2018, the Pirates traded Nova to the Chicago White Sox for Yordi Rosario and $500,000 of international signing bonus money.

[78] With the 2020 Detroit Tigers, Nova appeared in four games, compiling a 1–1 record with 8.53 ERA and nine strikeouts in 19 innings pitched.

[80] On March 25, 2021, Nova requested and was granted his release by the Phillies once it became clear he would not make the major league team.

[83] On December 21, 2021, Nova signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the SSG Landers of the KBO League.

[85] Nova worked in 2011 to develop his slider, changing his grip at the suggestion of Yankees executive Billy Connors.