Phillies’ Aaron Nola, facing Diamondbacks, continues quest for first season win

The good news for Aaron Nola is that he’s coming off his best start of the season. The bad news is that he still doesn’t have a win in 2025.

Nola — again — will look to break into the win column Saturday evening when the Philadelphia Phillies continue their three-game series with the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.

One of the most consistent pitchers of the past decade, the 31-year-old Nola re-signed with the Phillies for $172 million in November 2023. He went 14-8 with a 3.57 ERA last season but is 0-5 with a 5.40 ERA in six outings this year. He has had three starts in which he has allowed multiple home runs, and he uncharacteristically has walked four batters in two outings already.

That said, the veteran right-hander is coming off a crisp performance against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday. Nola allowed just one run and three hits in a season-high seven innings of that contest, which Philadelphia won 3-1 in 10 innings.

“A lot of guys would be bouncing off the wall,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said that day. “But he’s just even-keeled. He walks in, puts his hard hat on, and goes to work every day. He does the same thing. He’s got a process, he’s very consistent. That’s why I really don’t worry about him that much.”

Nola is just 2-3 with a 7.31 ERA in six lifetime starts against the Diamondbacks.

He certainly would love for his teammates to back him with clutch home runs, as was the case in the series opener on Friday. Kyle Schwarber and Max Kepler each hit a solo homer in the seventh as the Phillies rallied for a 3-2 triumph.

Philadelphia has won five of its last six games, and Schwarber is tied for the National League lead in home runs with 10.

“We’ll go through a stretch — maybe a couple stretches — where we don’t hit home runs,” Thomson said, “but right now it’s coming. The ball is carrying a lot more right now.”

Schwarber is deadlocked at 10 homers with Arizona’s Eugenio Suarez, who has not homered in his past five games since tying the major league record with four home runs last Saturday in a loss to the Atlanta Braves.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. recorded three hits and an RBI for the Diamondbacks on Friday, while the team welcomed back Ketel Marte (1-for-4) after the standout second baseman missed roughly a month with a hamstring injury.

“I just feel good, and I went out there and worked hard on everything, every day,” Marte said of his rehab. “I got there at 10 a.m. every day and got my work in.”

Arizona, which had won three of its previous four games before arriving in Philadelphia, will call on Brandon Pfaadt (5-1, 2.78 ERA) to start on Saturday. The right-hander worked six innings Sunday in his last outing — the fifth time in six starts that he has pitched six innings exactly. He went 5 2/3 innings in the sixth start.

Pfaadt most recently gave up three runs (two earned) and nine hits in a 6-4 win over Atlanta while matching a season high with six strikeouts. He has won his past five starts.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to go deep in the ballgames, and the offense has given me a chance to win five straight,” Pfaadt said, “and hopefully we keep that rolling.”

This will be Pfaadt’s first career regular-season start against the Phillies. He pitched against them twice in the 2023 National League Championship Series, won by Arizona in seven games, and threw a combined 9 2/3 innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits with 16 strikeouts. He didn’t figure into the decision of either game.

–Field Level Media