Phillies need more of vintage Aaron Nola: ‘I just need to step up’

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PHILADELPHIA — The 10th pitch Aaron Nola threw Saturday night was a called strike at 94.1 mph, a noteworthy development considering Nola had not thrown a pitch that hard in 112 days. Of the 916 pitches he had thrown in this truncated season, only two of them were faster than that dotted fastball to Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams. That mattered.

All of it matters so much more now that the Phillies know for certain they will be without Zack Wheeler for the remainder of 2025. Nola, even after six solid innings in a 6-4 Phillies win, is a current enigma. He is one of the more decorated pitchers in modern history, but trudging through a disappointing second year of a $172 million deal. And the club now desperately needs him to be something.

“I pretty much have one month left to the regular season,” Nola said, “and I’m going to do everything I can to give it all out there.”

That’s the thing: So many words and thoughts can be shared about Nola, a man who has spent 11 years under the watchful scrutiny of this city. It can be paralyzing. It can break even the best, and maybe Nola is broken after years of logging so many innings. He lowered his ERA to 6.52 while facing a last-place team for the second time in six days. He still surrendered two crushed solo homers in the sixth inning. He does not generate the confidence he once did. His detractors have ammunition.

And it would be a hell of a story if he authored a fine final month, if he became a competent — even dependable — starter for this team. The Phillies might not have needed Nola in May, June and July when the rotation powered forward without him.

They need a righty for their hypothetical postseason rotation, which as of now would feature three lefties — Cristopher Sánchez, Ranger Suárez and Jesús Luzardo.

A successful Saturday night pic.twitter.com/tHEvbgycQe

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 24, 2025

“Very important, no doubt,” Rob 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 has gone through ruts and come out of it in the past. He is going to be fine.”

Six innings Saturday night reinforced the Phillies manager’s hopes. Nola’s fastball sat 92.6 mph, up more than 1 mph from his season average. He had more bite to his curveball. He ditched the cutter that Washington’s lefty hitters mashed last weekend and featured more changeups. It was a good pitch. If you squinted, it was almost like vintage Nola.

For one night.

“The more I’m able to work during the week and throw good bullpens and my rib keeps feeling good, I can stay on a regular, steady routine,” Nola said. “And I think that helps.”

Nola completed six innings Saturday night for the first time since May 3. He earned his first win since then. He tired a bit in the sixth, making more mistakes, and that was understandable. It was Aug. 23, but for Nola, the lack of a routine skews all time.

He has a month — plus October — to make it right. If he does, everyone forgets what happened beforehand.

“I think so,” Nola said. “I mean, I can’t really hang my head on all that stuff right now. I’m healthy right now and I’m glad to be back. All that’s behind me. I’ll go out and throw good games the rest of the season.”

It’ll take more than one night against Washington to convince everyone. The Phillies have rotation questions to answer in the coming weeks; they know Sánchez will replace Wheeler atop the rotation. Everything after that is unknown.

It would be difficult, even in a five-game series, to use a rotation of all lefties. The Dodgers, Cubs and Brewers entered Saturday ranked in the top three offenses in OPS against lefty pitchers. The Padres ranked ninth and the Mets 10th. Maybe the Phillies could go all-lefty against San Diego or New York.

But this is the year of the lefty across baseball, and of all those teams above, only the Mets have drastically better numbers against righties than lefties.

It’s rare for a team to use three left-handed starters in the postseason and go deep. The 2011 Texas Rangers came within a game of winning the World Series; 13 of their 17 postseason games were started by lefties. The 1996 Yankees used Andy Pettitte, Jimmy Key and Kenny Rogers to start 12 of their 15 postseason games en route to a championship. The Los Angeles Dodgers were lefty-heavy (11 starts in 2017 and 12 in 2018) for consecutive postseasons.

There is a recent precedent with the Phillies. In 2009, they used Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and J.A. Happ to start 10 of their 15 postseason games. They also had the luxury of three starts (17 innings) from future Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez, a righty.

Wheeler, who will undergo surgery in the near future to correct venous thoracic outlet syndrome, would have anchored the rotation. The path toward any postseason series win is far more complicated without him. Even if Nola is only good to go twice through an opponent’s lineup, it would help. One of Suárez or Luzardo could pitch from the bullpen during a three- or five-game postseason series.

Nola threw 12 pitches at 93 mph or better in Saturday’s outing. He had thrown five total in his 10 previous starts this season. All of them came in that May 3 outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the last time Nola was healthy. He turned his ankle before his next start, allowed 13 runs in 8 2/3 innings before the Phillies finally shut him down, then spent months sidelined by a cracked rib.

He was trending upward before the injuries. Maybe the timing is just right.

“I just need to step up in general,” Nola said.

Usually, Nola watches games with Wheeler in the dugout when neither one of them is pitching. They have a spot near the steps to the clubhouse tunnel. Now, Nola said, he’s wandering around. He’ll watch some innings from the steps, some with his teammates on the bench. Something isn’t right without Wheeler.

Nola can help make it right.

“It’s definitely tough for the team and the city and the organization,” Nola said, “but we’re going to do our best to pick him up and go win as many more baseball games as possible.”

(Photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)

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