Aaron Nola, RHP
Aaron Nola typically struggles at the beginning of the season. His erratic play so far is not completely surprising. The last year he did not begin with a high ERA was 2021. This year is no different, as he allowed five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Nationals in his first game.
Nola gave up four of his six earned runs in the first inning versus the Giants in his fourth start. Given his reputation as the Phillies' second-best starter, he needs to correct his issues, as they are holding the team back.
The 31-year-old has not received much offensive support from the lineup in four of his five starts. Phillies batters put up no runs when Nola pitched in the game against Washington, or in the five innings in his third start against St. Louis.
Despite his overall struggles, Nola has finished with good strikeout totals in four of his five appearances. The right-hander totaled eight, seven, and eight strikeouts versus the Nationals, Cardinals and Giants.
Following his performance against San Francisco, the veteran spoke about his command issues in the first inning, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
“It drives me crazy,” Nola said, per Zolecki. “I mean, it’s unacceptable. Three times in my career I’ve done that, and two times in the past two games. I’ve just got to get ahead better. Too many free passes, and usually those runners have been scoring. I’m just making it harder on myself in those situations. Eight walks in two games overall. That’s not good. I’ll clean it up.”
According to Zolecki, Nola had his worst four-game stretch since he totaled a 6.86 ERA from Sept. 2-20 of 2023. The beat writer wrote that his 2025 start is his worst start to a season since 2019, when he totaled a 7.45 ERA.
Nola’s bad start to the year continued on Monday as he allowed four earned runs (although two of those scored after he left the game), seven hits, two home runs and two walks in 6 1/3 innings in the Phillies' 5-4 loss at Citi Field against the Mets. He had six strikeouts as well.
Once again, the Phillies' offense did not come through as they totaled no runs while he was on the mound. Nola, who is now 0-5 with a 6.43 ERA, is next scheduled to be on the mound against the Chicago Cubs, which looks to be another tough start for him on the road.
Nola's home run problem has reared its ugly head early on this season. He has already given up six long balls; his 24 percent HR/FB rate and 1.93 HR/9 are by far the highest rates of his career. This is despite a 48.8 percent ground ball rate, which is his highest rate since 2020.
With an xERA of 4.00 and xFIP of 3.40, better days should lie ahead for the veteran Phillie, if he can wrestle his command back under control. However, he will also need to get his velocity back up. All of his pitches are down at least 1.5 mph from last year, but that should improve as the weather warms up.