Aaron Nola made his second start after a three-month absence, pitching six innings and allowing three runs (two earned) in the Philadelphia Phillies’ 6-4 win over the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. Nola’s performance showed improvement from his previous outing, where he allowed six runs in just over two innings against the same team.
The Phillies announced earlier that day that starting pitcher Zack Wheeler will miss the rest of the season due to upcoming thoracic outlet decompression surgery. Nola commented on Wheeler’s absence: “It’s tough to lose him, especially his caliber and this part of the season,” Nola said. “It’s tough for the team and the city and the organization, but we’re going to do our best to pick him up and go win as many baseball games as possible.”
Kyle Schwarber, designated hitter for the Phillies, also addressed Wheeler’s injury: “Obviously, as a whole, it hurts as a team,” Schwarber said. “We’re going to have to come together even more as a group, because that’s a big hole to fill. But I feel like we’re going to have guys who step up.”
Nola is in his second year of a seven-year contract worth $172 million with Philadelphia. His fastball averaged 92.6 mph during Saturday’s game, marking its highest average velocity of any of his 11 starts this season. “When the velocity is up a little bit like that, I’m on top of it a little bit more and I get a little more jump before it gets to the plate,” Nola said. “The fastball felt good tonight and it set up some other stuff, especially my curveball.”
Cristopher Sánchez is expected to be Philadelphia’s Game 1 starter in Wheeler’s absence for any potential postseason series. Ranger Suárez and Jesús Luzardo are also options for starting roles; both are left-handed pitchers.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke about losing Wheeler: “Of course, it’s never good to lose a Zack Wheeler or your No. 1 pitcher,” Dombrowski said. “I think we have starting pitch depth that’s capable of pitching well for us and pitching well in the postseason.”
However, relying heavily on left-handed starters presents challenges in playoff matchups since teams typically avoid giving opponents similar looks in consecutive games during short series formats such as those used early in Major League Baseball’s postseason.
Manager Rob Thomson discussed Nola’s importance: “Very important. No doubt,” Thomson said. “And I expect good things out of Nola. I really do. He’s done it for a long time. He’s experienced. He’s gone through ruts and come out of it in the past. He’s going to be fine.”
Nola has faced setbacks this season with injuries including a sprained right ankle followed by a rib stress fracture during rehabilitation efforts; prior to being placed on injured list May 15 he had posted an ERA of 6.16 over nine starts.
“I just need to step up, in general,” Nola said. “I need to throw some more good games. Pretty much got one month left in the regular season, and I’m going to do everything I can to give my all out there, and hopefully, put the guys in a good position to win every time I’m out there.”
