[2] Novoa made his major league debut on July 29 against the Chicago White Sox.

Novoa entered in relief of Mike Maroth in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and two outs with the Tigers up 3–2.

After walking Kevin Youkilis to tie the game, Novoa struck out the next four batters to gain the victory.

[3] On February 9, 2005, Novoa was traded to the Chicago Cubs along with minor leaguers Scott Moore and Bo Flowers for Kyle Farnsworth.

He played briefly for the Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexican League in 2009, appearing in 7 games before being released in April.