Philadelphia Phillies Season 2017: Five Storylines to Watch
Aaron Nola’s Rocky Start
It is no secret that Aaron Nola has not been the same since his elbow injury last season. The former LSU standout is 0-3 with an 8.38 ERA in six games so far in Spring Training and his command has been sub-par at best.
Now, this is no reason to give up on the young right-hander. As we have seen plenty of times in the past, Spring Training is no indication of how a season will eventually unfold.
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Yes, it is concerning that Nola has produced four rather horrendous outings in a row but things are not as bad as Philly talk radio may lead you to believe.
Nola, at just 23 years old, has shown plenty of promise since joining the Phillies in 2015. Unfortunately, for him and his expectations in Philadelphia, he was inappropriately labeled as a potential number one starter after his impressive rookie campaign.
In reality, most scouting reports coming out of college had Nola projected as a high number three or mid-tier number two.
2017 should be a rebound year for Nola and you should fully expect him to regain his command this season, albeit at the sake of a few rough, early outings.