A picturesque landscape. Kyle Schwarber hitting moonshots into a cornfield. Ironically placed advertisements for gambling at the site of a movie about the Chicago Black Sox, who infamously fixed games in exchange for money.
Through it all, Aaron Nola dominated. The longtime rotation stalwart has been maligned this year for a dip in performance, with some fans suggesting that it may have been prudent to replace him (or at least add insurance) at the trade deadline. Instead, the Philadelphia Phillies focused on their offense and bullpen, leaving the $172 million man exposed to both opponents and criticism.
He's responded well to the challenge, giving up six earned runs over 16 innings (3.38 ERA) since the deadline. And his Field of Dreams Game start was masterful, as he racked up nine strikeouts over five innings of one-run ball, working around the three walks and five hits he allowed.
This recent version of Nola may not be quite the same pitcher who finished in the top-11 in Cy Young voting in every even year between 2018-24, but more vintage performances like this will quell a lot of doubts about the Phillies' ability to pitch their way through October.
Aaron Nola's Field of Dreams Game dominance set the example for how he can succeed in the future
Unfortunately, because the game was played at the Field of Dreams Movie Site, there's no Statcast data for us to work with when analyzing Nola's start. However, we do know that his signature knuckle curve was in peak form, as he registered eight of his nine strikeouts with the pitch. He was locating it beautifully down in the zone, feeling comfortable enough to use it in tight counts and with runners on base.
It goes without saying, but Nola needs that pitch to be successful nowadays. No longer is he the 2018 All-Star who had one of the best fastballs, curveballs, and changeups in the game simultaneously. Instead, the 2026 version of the right-hander has a four-seamer, cutter, and sinker that have combined for mind-numbing -32 fastball run value, which is easily the worst in baseball.
And yet, his curveball has a run value of +7, meaning it's still one of the more valuable breaking balls in the game today. Twins hitters simply couldn't pick it up out of his hand, whiffing through it routinely in two-strike counts. Perhaps that's not too surprising, since the pitch has garnered a 42.3% swing-and-miss rate this season.
Yes, this all means that his margin for error is thinner than ever before. We've seen him get blown up in a number of outings this year, hence the 30 homers he's already allowed. But as the No. 4 in a really good rotation -- one which is headlined by Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez, and Jesús Luzardo -- this most recent iteration of Nola is more than capable of helping the Phillies battle with the titans of the National League in the playoffs.
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