Aaron Nola made his 295th\u00a0start as a Phillie on Wednesday afternoon, moving him into sole possession of fourth place (he\u2019d previously been tied with Cole Hamels) on the team\u2019s all-time list.<\/p>\n
Nola will continue to climb the ladder in the coming weeks as he\u2019s just six behind Chris Short (301) for third place.<\/p>\n
With four-plus seasons remaining on his contract, Nola will at least close the gap on franchise leaders Robin Roberts (472) and Steve Carlton (499).<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s fair to wonder what those starts will look like in terms of performance.<\/p>\n
Nola had the worst season of his career last year \u2013 6.01 ERA in 17 starts — and this one is shaping up to be a struggle, as well.<\/p>\n
Two weeks shy of his 33rd\u00a0birthday, the right-hander was tagged for four runs over five innings in his latest start as the Phillies lost the finale of a three-game series to the Cincinnati Reds, 9-4, at Citizens Bank Park. Three of the eight hits that Nola gave up were for extra bases. Ten starts into the season, he has a 6.04 ERA.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing great, honestly,\u201d was his progress report.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0defeat marked the first time the Phillies have lost a series since Don Mattingly took over as manager when the team was 9-19 on April 29.<\/p>\n
The Phils, now 25-25, are 16-6 under Mattingly. They have won six of seven series.<\/p>\n
While the bulk of the rotation has improved its performance in recent weeks, fueling the team\u2019s rebound, Nola has continued to raise concerns. He\u2019s allowed 10 runs in 8 2\/3 innings in his last two starts. He\u2019s had just one quality start in his last seven outings. That came May 4 when he pitched six shutout innings in a 1-0 win at Miami. In his other six starts over that span, he has an ERA of 7.52.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of take them all individually instead of taking the larger sample,\u201d Mattingly said. \u201cObviously, the large sample is a little bit of a trend that you don\u2019t like. But then you try to take each one individually. Is he getting better? Then, how do we help him? I know (pitching coach Caleb Cotham) and the guys are always working on what we can do differently, what we can do better. But, yeah, he\u2019s had a tougher time, for me, kind of staying consistent with his stuff and being able to make it through games.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the subject of how the team can help Nola rediscover the consistency that was his calling card before 2025, Mattingly said, \u201cWe\u2019ve talked about a lot of things. We\u2019ve talked about him pitching backward, doing different things, using his fastball more, using it less, maybe it\u2019s using the changeup more, maybe the breaking ball. Each team presents its own set of challenges. I can\u2019t say it\u2019s one thing to flip the whole script. It\u2019s game to game how his weapons are working, how he\u2019s going to get through innings and limit any kind of damage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nola spent three months on the injured list last season with rib and ankle issues. Before that, he\u2019d been a year-to-year workhorse for the franchise. From the start of 2017 through 2024, he pitched 1,432 2\/3 innings, the most in the majors. It\u2019s fair to wonder if that workload has taken a toll on Nola, who is signed through 2030 as part of a seven-year, $172 million contract extension signed in November 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cIts tough to see anybody struggle but especially somebody like Nola because he works so hard and he\u2019s such a good competition,\u201d catcher J.T. Realmuto said. \u201cHe\u2019s gotten a lot of big outs for this team. We wouldn\u2019t be where we are without him so we\u2019re all pulling for him to get through it and we have confidence that he will.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the loss, Nola insisted he was healthy.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy arm and my body feel great,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Nola\u2019s stuff isn\u2019t what it used to be. His fastball averaged under 92 mph for the first time in eight seasons last year. This year, it\u2019s sitting at 92. That\u2019s a low-octane pitch by today\u2019s standards. Nola needs pinpoint command and artful change up speed to succeed. When he doesn\u2019t have the command \u2013 when his pitches catch too much plate \u2013 he gets hit hard. Major League Baseball\u2019s new ball-strike challenge system has complicated things for Nola, giving him less room to operate on the edges.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is harder,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s the way the game is. I have to adjust to it better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nola opened Wednesday’s game with three quick outs, two coming on strikeouts. He took a 1-0 lead into the second inning and allowed three straight hits, two doubles and a single, as the Reds rallied for three runs and never trailed again. Nola gave up two-run scoring hits in the inning on curveballs.<\/p>\n
Realmuto, Nola\u2019s longtime\u00a0battery mate, believes the pitcher can return to past form.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like he\u2019s just a small adjustment away,\u201d Realmuto said. \u201cYou saw how good he was in the first inning today. It\u2019s still in there. It all comes down to being able to throw the ball where he wants. That\u2019s always when he\u2019s been at his best. I\u2019m confident he and Caleb together will figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Phillies were out-hit, 15-6, by the Reds on Wednesday. The Phillies\u2019 offense, which often struggles against left-handers, had a tough time with Reds lefty Andrew Abbott, who gave up just two runs (one earned) in 5 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n
Kyle Schwarber, the majors\u2019 home run leader, missed the whole series because of a stomach bug. He was available to pinch-hit Wednesday. He will return to the lineup Friday night when the Phils begin a three-game series against Cleveland.<\/p>\n
Nola lines up to pitch again Tuesday night in San Diego. The Phillies hope he takes a step forward \u2013 and not just on the team\u2019s all-time list of games started.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aaron Nola made his 295th\u00a0start as a Phillie on Wednesday afternoon, moving him into sole possession of fourth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,227211,85],"class_list":["post-683968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-phillies-analysis","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}