The Philadelphia Phillies are now on the brink of falling below the .500 mark after a promising start to their 2025 season. During the tremendous struggles, offensive holes and inconsistent pitching have been the death of any momentum gained during the month of April.
Phillies starter Aaron Nola has turned into a pressing issue for the Phillies, and one that the club can't afford to have fall apart so early into the season. Nola has been a lifelong Phillie and will be possibly for the rest of his career, but his 2025 is not what the Phillies want from their veteran. A silver lining that can be taken from Nola's winless start is that it's not entirely his fault.
Phillies' offense needs to take some blame for Aaron Nola's winless start to 2025
Nola fell to 0-5 with a 6.43 ERA after his fifth start of the season against the New York Mets earlier this week — a feat he hadn't even come close to before. There's no way to sugarcoat losing every start. He has been unable to put hitters away and mix in his six home runs allowed, you get the continued car crash of outings fans have witnessed.
Nola spoke about what it felt like falling to 0-5 in the early season, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
“It’s frustrating, for sure,” Nola said, per Zolecki. “Absolutely. I’m 0-5 with a [6.43 ERA]. It’s pretty brutal. I’m going to keep working and try to have good weeks leading up to my next starts and prepare the best I can and stay healthy. Keep believing that things can turn around soon, and just go out and compete.”
Although Nola has surrendered 20 runs in just five starts, the Phillies' offense on his starting days has produced just five runs total over his 28 innings pitched, four of which came in one game. The Phillies have been blanked in three of his starts so far and have hung Nola out to dry with taking the loss each time as a result.
Nola hasn't attacked opposing hitters as frequently and is still working through a slight dip in velocity, which could be attributed to colder weather. The fact remains the same that in previous years, Nola got the expected run support to win games. This year, the offense has failed to back their starter and forced the Phillies to unleash their already short bullpen (subscription required), per Matt Gelb of The Athletic.
The seesaw of Nola year-to-year is frustrating on its own, but an offense that's expected to be consistent constantly comes up short. They don't have to put up seven or eight runs a game, but getting completely silenced puts a major target on the rotation's back and doesn't help the confidence of Nola or anyone else getting handed the loss.