Phillies Pitcher Aaron Nola Beginning Throwing Program

The Phillies 2014 first-round draft pick began throwing Wednesday in Florida. Nola is battling back from a strained ulnar collateral ligament.

Hearts sank in Phillies fans everywhere when they heard Aaron Nola, their star young pitcher, strained his elbow, with it later emerging that Nola suffered a sprain to his ulnar collateral ligament. Every time I hear about a pitcher sustaining an injury to their UCL, I immediately think of Dr. James Andrews and Tommy John surgery.

Thankfully, Nola is making progress in his recovery. Per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, Nola started a throwing program in Clearwater this week. Phillies GM Matt Klentak seemed happy with the session, telling Zolecki Nola felt “great” with “no pain, no issues.”

As expected, the Phillies will take it slow with their star pitcher. If the Mets have shown us anything this year, pitchers are fragile. Klentak elaborated on the team’s plan for Nola:

"“He will begin with flat ground, stretch it out to throwing from further distance, eventually get up on the mound and eventually throw to hitters. All those things need to happen, but we’re going to be pretty conservative with the pace.”"

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Nola received a platelet-rich plasma injection for his elbow in August, which the team hoped would be enough to heal the sprain. At the time, Klentak told CSN Philly that “all the doctors…suggested that they think rest and ramping him back up after that to confirm that he’s still feeling good is the right plan of care.” This light amount of throwing is the first step in ramping up Nola back up.

Despite his return to throwing, concerns still exist about Nola’s elbow. If this program doesn’t go well, Nola may still undergo surgery. This would likely completely keep Nola out for all of 2017, and the later the surgery happens, the more time that would cut into 2018 as well.

Jayson Stark of ESPN expressed his concern about Nola in an interview with 97.5 The Fanatic. Stark told the Fanatic, “The Aaron Nola injury is very concerning. Those tears don’t really heal but you can strengthen muscles around them.” Sprains are indeed minute tears in ligaments, and that is scary. Without a doubt, the Phillies will spend plenty of time this offseason strengthening Nola’s arm in addition to this throwing program.

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Nola started the season incredibly well. In the first two months of the season, Nola lasted six innings or more in every start but one. He struck out 9.5 batters per nine innings and carried a 2.88 ERA. Debates raged whether Nola or Odubel Herrera should represent the team in the All-Star Game.

Nola’s next two months were the complete opposite. His ERA ballooned to 8.31 in that span with a 2.00 WHIP. In nine starts, Nola went 2-5 as he walked 8% of opposing hitters. I wouldn’t be surprised if Nola’s struggles came due to his elbow injury.

Even when Nola struggled, there were still positive signs. His 3.45 FIP and .454 BABIP in June and July indicates he suffered from bad luck and poor fielding behind him. Nola actually raised his K/9 to 10.38. As a whole, our own George Stockburger gave Nola a “B” for the year.

Next: Phillies 2016 Season Report Card: Aaron Nola

During the offseason, it will be imperative to keep tabs on Aaron Nola and how he progresses with this throwing program. He is off to a good start, but any major setbacks could lead to surgery. The last thing we want is Nola going on the shelf for all of 2017 and some, if not all of, 2018 as well.