Phillies need reliable Aaron Nola back from ‘the worst start’ he’s ever had

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PHILADELPHIA — The 29th pitch Aaron Nola threw in the first inning Wednesday night was not competitive, a 91 mph sinker that Wilmer Flores took without hesitation to secure a bases-loaded walk. Nola didn’t show outward disappointment. But he seethed underneath. The man had made 273 starts and issued one bases-loaded walk over his entire career.

He’s walked in two runs in his last two starts.

“I mean, it’s unacceptable,” Nola said after an 11-4 demolition by the San Francisco Giants.

So, here’s an inflection point for Nola. He called this — a 6.65 ERA in his first four starts, all winless — “definitely the worst start I’ve ever had, by far.” Nola is an important piece to this puzzle, although less important than before, because others have emerged in the rotation. The Philadelphia Phillies are asking Nola to be durable and reliable. He made it to the sixth inning Wednesday only to load the bases again.

“I just got to get ahead better,” Nola said. “Too many free passes, and usually those runs have been scoring. And I’m just kind of making it harder on myself in those situations. Eight walks in two games overall. It’s not good. So I’ll clean it up.”

Nola’s fastballs averaged 90 mph in Wednesday’s outing. Giants hitters whiffed at only two of the 44 fastballs Nola threw. They fouled off 11 of them. They had four hits on fastballs, and three of Nola’s walks were issued with a fastball.

His velocity is down compared with seasons past, but it’s comparable to last April when he averaged 90.9 mph with his fastball. Nola sat 92 mph in April starts during 2019, 2021 and 2022. It’s ticked downward since; he needs more time and warmer weather for some extra juice. He made a steady climb in 2024 from that 90.9 mph April average to 92.9 mph in July.

Nola will never be a pitcher who relies on velocity, but a 92 mph fastball is more helpful than an 89 mph one. Without velocity or command, which is Nola’s current state, it is difficult to see a path toward effectiveness.

But the fact he even made it to the sixth inning Wednesday was notable. He threw 12 pitches in the second, 10 in the third, 11 in the fourth and 13 in the fifth. A run scored in the fifth only because Johan Rojas airmailed a throw that wasn’t required. It bounced into the third row of seats near home plate.

So, Nola started the sixth at 81 pitches. He departed the game with the bases loaded and only one out. José Ruiz inherited the jam and allowed two of those runs to score on yet another bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly.

Nola is the first Phillies pitcher saddled with four losses in four starts to begin a season since David Buchanan in 2015. Other Phillies pitchers to accomplish that feat in the last 35 seasons: Jon Lieber (2006), Vicente Padilla (2005), Bobby Muñoz (1997) and Kyle Abbott (1992).

Nola has been here before. In 2019, he stumbled to a 7.45 ERA in his first four starts. He walked 11 batters and surrendered five homers to begin that season. He finished with a 3.87 ERA in 202 1/3 innings. He walked nine batters in his first four starts last season (23 1/3 innings). He has nine walks in 21 2/3 innings in 2025.

But he’s had good Aprils, too. He entered this season with a career 3.77 ERA in March/April. The Phillies won’t panic so long as Nola is healthy and pitching every fifth day.

“Just because of his track record, after April, it’s pretty good,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “And he’s had some good Aprils, too. But this guy’s a grinder. He throws 35 pitches in the first inning and gets into the sixth. So he figures it out. No matter what kind of stuff he’s got, he’s going to grind. He’s going to battle.”

Zack Wheeler supplanted Aaron Nola as the Phillies’ ace years ago.  (Tim Vizer / Imagn Images)

The difference, now, is that Nola is not atop the Phillies’ rotation. Zack Wheeler supplanted him as the ace years ago. Cristopher Sánchez is probably the club’s second-best starter now. Even Jesús Luzardo, who has authored four strong starts, looks like an ascending pitcher. The Phillies believe Andrew Painter will one day be a top-of-the-rotation pitcher.

They need Nola’s volume. It’s an odd dynamic to suggest Nola has fallen that far down the rotation hierarchy, considering this is the second season of a seven-year, $172 million contract. The Phillies expect Nola to pitch like a mid-rotation starter for much of that deal. He might. But the expectations are tempered with a four-start stretch like this, no matter when it comes during a season.

Nola has always been reliable, if nothing else, and he has not been that in 2025. The Phillies know how Nola works; he’s made more starts than almost every single man who has ever pitched in 143 seasons of this franchise’s existence.

He has something to prove less than a month into his 11th big-league season.

“All I can do is keep working and keep trying to have good weeks,” Nola said. “Prepare as best as I can for the next game I pitch. Take all my work into that game and just compete.”

(Top photo: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)

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