Aaron Nola’s career in Philadelphia is still quite young, but he has already proven to be a dominant pitcher. He was the team’s 2014 first-round pick and quickly rose to the majors, making his debut the next year. Nola has surpassed expectations from when he was drafted and established himself as an ace-caliber pitcher.
Nola’s first full season in Philadelphia was rocky as he dealt with injury concerns the second half of 2016. He strained his UCL and there was concern he would have to get Tommy John surgery, keeping him out until this year. The team opted for a rest/rehab approach, along with some platelet-rich plasma injections.
This worked out well as Nola has not dealt with any elbow issues since. He missed a month last year due to a back injury, but he hasn’t dealt with any injuries since.
In the last two years combined, Nola has a 2.83 ERA, 1.089 WHIP, 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings, 2.5 walks per nine, and 337 innings pitched in 53 starts. He has been especially dominant this season with a 2.13 ERA, 2.66 fielding-independent pitching, a strikeout per inning, and just eight home runs allowed in 26 starts.
Since the start of the 2017 season, Nola ranks seventh among all pitchers in wins above replacement, behind only Chris Sale, Max Scherzer, Corey Kluber, Jacob deGrom, Luis Severino, and Trevor Bauer. He ranks ahead of Justin Verlander, Carlos Carrasco, and Zack Greinke. All these pitchers are Cy Young-caliber, and Nola may just win it this year.