Phillies 2019 season preview: Starting pitcher Aaron Nola

Can Aaron Nola repeat his success for the Phillies in 2019?

Only a handful of pitchers in Phillies history can match the success Aaron Nola had in 2018. Still in his early 20s, Nola had a career-year that nearly won him a Cy Young award, a campaign thwarted by a poor offense and rival aces in the division.

For the Phillies to compete for a division title in 2019, let alone a World Series championship, they’ll need their young ace to play a major role leading a rotation with more questions than answers.

The Phillies don’t necessarily need Nola to compete for another Cy Young, but he certainly has the stuff do to it. That “stuff” helped fetch him a multi-year contract extension worth $45 million loaded with expectations.

Of course, those expectations will be high for Nola coming off a historic season. He went 17-6 with a 2.37 ERA with 224 strikeouts in 33 games, all of which were career-bests for the former LSU Tiger.

Nola’s splits were fairly even between road and home games, though he did allow 10 home runs at Citizens Bank Park. He was also surprisingly more effective against southpaws, holding them to a batting average 20 points lower compared to righties.

While Nola was fantastic throughout the season, his best month came in August when he pitched with a 1.06 ERA in five starts. A .900 WHIP and 1.80 ERA in May could make a strong argument for that being his best month, but why argue when he had one of the great seasons in Phillies history.

Nola’s 2.37 ERA was the 14th best in team history post-deadball era and his 224 strikeouts were the 15th most in team history for a single season behind names like Curt Schilling, Steve Carlton, Jim Bunning, and Pete Alexander.