Philadelphia Phillies starter Aaron Nola passed Robin Roberts for the second-most strikeouts in franchise history on Friday night. Ever since Nola came up as a big leaguer for the Phillies in 2015, it felt like this day would come sooner or later. It took until his final regular season start of 2025, but he found a way to get it done in a dominant night on the mound.
Coming into Friday, Nola was just four strikeouts away from tieing a special feat. He was on the brink of tying the great Roberts (1948-1961) for the second most strikeouts in Phillies history with 1,871.
He needed a decent outing to get it done, and Nola proceeded to turn in his most dominant start of the year. It also opened the door for a possibility of seeing Nola on the postseason roster after all.
Aaron Nola continues to etch his name into Phillies history with eyes on postseason
Nola retired the first 17 Minnesota Twins batters he faced before allowing a solo home run as his first base runner. The threat pretty much ended there, as Nola went on to pitch eight innings, while allowing just two hits and striking out nine batters.
His record-setting 1,872nd strikeout came against Twins first baseman Edouard Julien on a swinging strike to end the fifth inning.
Aaron Nola now has the second-most strikeouts in franchise history 🙌
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 26, 2025
Way to geaux, Nols! pic.twitter.com/2ocNK4ubR5
He now holds the record for the second-most strikeouts in franchise history with 1,876. Roberts achieved the feat in 529 games, while Nola only needed 285. Now, the only name left on the board is Steve Carlton who has 3,031 in his career with the Phillies. Carlton's record seems untouchable, even with some time left for Nola, but it's still impressive nonetheless.
Nola also just gave Phillies manager Rob Thomson a lot to think about before the start of the NLDS. Only three starters will be needed to get through the round, with the expected rotation being Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo and Ranger Suárez. If Thomson still believes there's something to gain from Nola pitching, he could move him to the bullpen (subscription required), a place that Nola is completely unfamiliar with. Nola doesn't care what his role is, he just wants to help the team win, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
“I’ll do whatever, man,” Nola said after Friday’s game, per Zolecki. “I’ll do whatever to help the guys win, man. Everybody pulls the same in here. We want to get back to the World Series and win it.”
Nola has had a complicated tenure with the Phillies, with 2025 being the biggest hurdle of a regular season. He finishes 2025 with a 5-10 record, 6.01 ERA and 97 strikeouts over 94 1/3 innings. He was held to 17 starts after his injury problems that kept him out for three months.
There have been a lot of negative things happen to Nola this year so Phillies fans couldn't ask for a better end to his regular season. Let's just hope his potential postseason appearances go just as smooth.