Numerous Phillies pitchers fell to injury in 2016, but both Mark Appel and Aaron Nola are progressing back from their respective injuries in Clearwater.
There’s no such thing of having too much pitching depth, as the Phillies showed this year. Nearly every starter in the rotation fell victim to the injury bug at some point this season. Charlie Morton, Aaron Nola, and Zach Eflin all suffered season-ending injuries. In addition, Mark Appel, whom the team acquired in the Ken Giles trade, also went on the shelf for the year.
Thankfully, Nola and Appel are well into their recovery process at the club’s spring training facility in Clearwater, Fla. Nola suffered what GM Matt Klentak called “a low-grade sprain of his UCL and a low-grade strain of his flexor,” and he received a PRP – platelet-rich plasma – injection to heal it. Meanwhile, Appel’s season ended after undergoing surgery to remove a bone spur from his pitching elbow.
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Phillies player development director Joe Jordan said “both pitchers have been progressing in Florida, and if everything goes well, they will finish their work in the next few weeks” according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.
Jordan said Nola and Appel would be ready for spring training if everything goes according to plan. Nola would headline the major-league rotation alongside Vincent Velasquez and Jerad Eickhoff.
Appel would likely need more time at Triple-A considering he got limited action there this season.
Appel, the TBOH No. 14 prospect, was a dichotomy in his eight starts with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In his first four starts, Appel had a 1.64 ERA and opposing hitters had a .244 average. Afterwards, Appel’s ERA ballooned to 8.27 and he posted a 1.90 WHIP. He landed on the disabled list with a strained shoulder at the end of May, and he suffered the bone spur as he recovered from that shoulder injury.
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Nola was utterly dominant in the first two months of 2016. Through his first 11 starts, Nola struck out 9.5 batters per nine innings and carried a 2.88 ERA. Once June rolled around, Nola looked completely different. From June on, Nola couldn’t find his control, walking eight percent of opposing hitters. His 8.31 ERA wasn’t entirely his fault, as opposing hitters had a batting average on balls in play of .454. His xFIP (Expected Fielding-Independent Pitching) of 3.69 was nothing special, but it indicated that Nola’s failures weren’t completely his fault.
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Along with Nola and Appel, No. 1 draft pick Mickey Moniak missed time due to a sore hip, but he has since recovered. Jordan said Moniak had “no issues.” Jordan said Moniak still saw some action in the instructional league before it wrapped up.