GLENDALE, Ariz. -- After Ivan Nova discussed his start Monday against the Brewers, the veteran right-hander was asked for the most impressive young White Sox hurler he has watched this spring.

“Covey,” said Nova, referring to Dylan Covey. “He’s got great command, great pitches. He attacks the zone.”

Covey appreciated the praise from an accomplished White Sox pitching peer. But even without that compliment, the 27-year-old right-hander already feels in a better place than 2018 and a much better place than 2017.

In that ’17 season, Covey had joined the organization as a Rule 5 selection from Oakland at the 2016 Winter Meetings. He was clearly overmatched, having six starts of Double-A experience as his highest previous level before posting an 0-7 mark with a 7.71 ERA over 18 games and 12 starts in the Majors.

Instead of letting these struggles define him, Covey has talked on a few occasions about using this rough rookie year as the ultimate learning experience. Now, he’s looking strong in camp, with an excellent chance to break with the team as part of the bullpen.

“I’m feeling really, really good,” Covey said. “That [2017 season] was the most important thing I’ve ever gone through in my life, even though I failed almost every time I went out there.

“It taught me what I needed to know for the next season. Then the experience I learned last year, being a different pitcher than I was, I learned myself last year and now I feel like I know what I need to do and what I have.

“What I have is good. I just need to pour in strikes, and that’s what I’ve been doing this spring.”

That ’18 season featured Covey outdueling Chris Sale at Fenway Park on June 8, throwing six shutout innings against the eventual World Series champions and claiming a 1-0 victory. He posted a 2.29 ERA over his first six starts. And on July 21, he carried a no-hitter into the sixth against the Mariners at Safeco Field before settling for 8 1/3 innings of shutout baseball with five strikeouts. He also shut out the Indians over 12 innings in back-to-back September starts.

Confidence from last season’s growth has carried over into Spring Training. Covey had not allowed a run in 6 2/3 innings, spanning four games, before Friday, when the Cubs got to him for two runs in the top of the seventh in an 11-9 White Sox loss.

“I feel, obviously, a lot more comfortable,” Covey said. “I feel like I didn’t really know who I was as a pitcher back as a rookie but kind of figured it out a little bit last year.”

Said White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper: “He’s throwing the ball very well. He’s a Major League guy. I like all his pitches. We’ve always seen flashes of four, but we didn’t see them enough. Now we are starting to see them more and more -- the fastball, the cutter command, the split. They will all come and come well.”

Featuring the cutter, a pitch described by Covey that’s “hard, but going the opposite direction,” has been a separator for him. He has worked with the pitch since ’15, but it wasn’t until last year that Covey grasped the concept of how to throw it consistently and how to get the consistent movement.

A velocity increase also has helped, with Covey explaining to teammates recently in the bullpen how he reached a point where he was sick of getting beat and just willed his way to throw harder. He has gone from that rough first year to a potential valuable staff piece, with the ability to spot-start remaining.

“My numbers are what they are. They are ugly,” Covey said of ’17. “But that year of experience, no one can take that away from me.”

Added Cooper: “There [are] guys [who] have got chances to come to Chicago and pitch in the big leagues because of where we’ve been at in the rebuild. Now they know a little bit more clearly on what they need to do to be full-time big leaguers.”