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Aaron Nola is Turning a Corner at the Right Time
By Luke Arcaini
Published:
Aaron Nola tossed six innings of three-run ball on Thursday night.
Considering how his 2026 season started, you’ll take that every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
The last 17 months have been pretty nightmarish for the Phillies’ veteran arm. Nola made 17 starts in 2025, totaling a 6.01 ERA before going down for three months with a right ankle sprain. He’s not the same pitcher he was five years ago. He can’t pump a consistent 96-97 mph anymore. He has to find ways through his starts, and he’s slowly been doing that over the last few weeks.
After getting torched at the end of June for 8 hits and 7 runs against the Pirates, Nola has put together three starts that kept the Phillies in each game. Granted, they lost all three of those games, but that’s due to the fact that the offense has scored five total runs in Nola’s last three starts.
He’s relied on his changeup more as of late. He’s thrown it to lefties 218 times in 2026. For context, he threw it to lefties 219 times in 2024, which is a number for the entire season. It’s worked. He threw it 21 times on Thursday night. It’s been a pitch that’s lived down in the zone for him and has limited hangers to lefties.
Through Nola’s last 10 starts, he’s allowed three or less runs in eight of them. Those 37.2 innings haven’t been perfect by any means, but they’ve been better, and that’s what you need from Nola right now, who is under contract for four more years with the Phillies:
Nola left the six inning with 90 pitches on Thursday night, and everyone thought his night was over. Don Mattingly made the situation to send Nola back out for the 7th, and it backfired. Nola allowed back to back solo home runs, to bring the Mets lead to 3-0.
After Mattingly pulled Nola after 5 innings and 84 pitches in Detroit, last night should’ve been a situation where he went to the hook again.
“So I take him out too early, then leave him in too long,” Mattingly said postgame to reporters when asked about his decisions with Nola over his last two starts. “Honestly, you really take each game what it is. I thought he was throwing the ball good. If he was struggling in the 6th, I would’ve been more proactive.”
What Phillies fans have to accept, at this point, is a 5-6 inning, 3-run outing from Nola at this point has to be taken. Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez, and Jesus Luzardo continue to dominate and give the bullpen three light nights per rotation. If Nola gives you a near quality start when he takes the mound, that’s a positive for this Phillies team for the rest of the season.
The Phillies, now 17 days away from the trade deadline, will have some big decisions to make over the next 2.5 weeks. With Brad Keller out for the year, a high-leverage reliever should take the top spot of needs to improve this team. The Phillies are dead last in baseball in on-base percentage; a bat is needed, specifically a right fielder. If you get the Nola that you’ve seen in the month of July, the need for a backend starter should slide down the ranks.
Luke Arcaini covers the Phillies for Crossing Broad. The wave is the worst thing is sports. Follow him on Twitter @ArcainiLuke