Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson announced Wednesday that starting pitcher Aaron Nola will be suiting up for Italy at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
He is now the second confirmed MLB player to join Team Italy, per MLB.com, alongside Kansas City Royals first baseman Vincent Pasquantino.
Italy reached the quarterfinals of the 2023 World Baseball Classic before being eliminated by the eventual champions, Japan, in a 9-3 blowout. It was nonetheless a good showing for Italy, which had only escaped the first round in one previous WBC (Round 2, 2013).
Nola, 32, will give Italy a top-of-the-rotation option, though the former All-Star had a rough 2025. Injuries limited him to just 17 starts and he struggled when healthy, finishing 5-10 with a 6.01 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 97 strikeouts in 94.1 innings.
While his final two appearances of the season were strong efforts—he gave up just two hits and a run in eight innings, with nine strikeouts, in his final start of the regular season against the Minnesota Twins; and two innings of scoreless ball against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his lone playoff appearance—it was an otherwise forgettable campaign for Nola.
Those struggles were somewhat offset by Zach Wheeler’s dominance in the first half of the season, Cristopher Sánchez’s Cy Young-esque campaign and Jesús Luzardo’s breakout effort. But the 2026 Phillies need Nola to return to form, especially after losing Ranger Suárez in free agency and given the ongoing uncertainty over Wheeler’s future after thoracic outlet syndrome ended his 2025 campaign.
A strong showing at the WBC would be a positive indicator that a bounce-back season is loading. He’s one of 10 Phillies reportedly playing in the tournament, joining Bryce Harper (WBC), Kyle Schwarber (USA), Brad Keller (USA), Garrett Stubbs (Israel), Taijuan Walker (Mexico), Alan Rangel (Mexico), José Alvarado (Venezuela), Edmundo Sosa (Panama) and Johan Rojas (Dominican Republic).